Nine Filipino weightlifters of Team HD look to conquer the high altitude of the Andes Mountain Range at the World Weightlifting Championships.
Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo and the Team HD look to open their campaign strong in the World Weightlifting Championships that ran from December 5 to 16 in Bogota, Colombia, one of six qualifiers for weightlifting in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Diaz-Naranjo registered in the women’s 55kg division, the event that brought the Philippines’ its first gold in the Tokyo Olympics, and will be competing on the high altitude of the Andes Mountain Range more than 8,000 feet in elevation with temperature in the vicinity of 10 degrees Celsius.
“It’s quite difficult to train here because of the high altitude, the air is thin, we gasp for breath during lifting and training. But we already adjusted so far,” said the golden girl in a voice message to Business Mirror.
Hidilyn will be entering the competition as the No.2 in the women’s 55kg, following the hometown hero No. 1 seed Rosalba Estela Morales del Aguila of host Colombia, and the withdrawal of Kazakhstan’s Zulfiya Chinshalo, the bronze winner in Tokyo.
“I haven’t seen the start list but I expect a lot of competitive weightlifters especially from Mexico, but we will be ready,” said Diaz-Naranjo.
Eight other Filipino weightlifters are expected to play at the WWC after coming home empty-handed in the previous world championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last year.
Asian champion Vanessa Sarno and Kristel Macrohon will be competing in the 71 kg event, Rosegie Ramos and Lovely Inan registered for the 49kg category, while Elreen Ann Ando will be competing in the 59kg class.
On the men’s side, Hidilyn will be joined by fellow Rio de Janeiro Olympian Nestor Colonia in the men’s 55kg category, John Ceniza in the 61kg event and Dave Lloyd Pacaldo in the 6 kg class.
Diaz-Naranjo might be the Philippines’ golden girl but she is still hunting for the elusive world title in which she is ready to bag for herself and her country on December 8, Philippine time.
Tags: #weightlifting, #powerlifting, #Olympics