Hidilyn Diaz Bio

Hidilyn Diaz

ByRajalakshmi

Hidilyn Diaz Bio

Hidilyn Diaz, the weightlifter who made history at this year’s Tokyo Olympics as the first Filipino to ever win an Olympic gold medal. She started off by studying computer science at the University of Zamboanga for three years, but after deciding the field wasn’t a good fit, she left to focus on her weight training. Clearly, this paid off, because Diaz went on to compete in several Olympic games, and she recently made history after winning the women’s 55 kg category for weightlifting at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The athlete is now dating her coach Julius Naranjo, a filmmaker and former weightlifter who competed for Guam in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

Hidilyn Diaz is the fifth of six children of Eduardo and Emelita Diaz. Her father was a tricycle driver before becoming a farmer and a fisherman. She grew up wanting to be a banker and trying several sports, like basketball and volleyball.

[table id=1521 /]

Similar Posts

  • Chaunté Lowe

    ByRajalakshmi

    Lowe is an American record holder for women’s high jump (indoor and outdoor), a 4-time Olympian (she took bronze in 2008), a 3-time World Championship medalist, and 12-time US National Champion. But one of her biggest challenges came in 2019, when she was diagnosed with triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma, a very aggressive form of breast…

  • |

    Mica McNeill

    ByRajalakshmi

    Mica McNeill is the leading female British Bobsleigh pilot and world-class athlete who competes at a world-class level. She won a silver medal at the first ever Youth Olympic Games in 2012 together with becoming Junior World Champion at Winterberg in January 2017. Mica McNeill and Mica Moore achieved Team GB’s best-ever women’s bobsleigh result at…

  • Carissa Moore

    ByRajalakshmi

    Carissa Kainani Moore is an American professional surfer and the 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019 WSL Women’s World Tour Champion. In 2013, she was named by Glamour magazine as one of their Women of the Year. She became a member of the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2010, Moore qualified to compete on…

  • Stefanie Dolson

    ByRajalakshmi

    Stefanie Dolson a.k.a. Big Mama Stef, is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was drafted sixth overall in the 2014 WNBA draft. Dolson played center for the UConn women’s basketball team and won back-to-back national championships in 2013 and 2014. She won a gold…

  • |

    Annika Sörenstam

    ByRajalakshmi

    Annika Sörenstam, Swedish-born American golfer who was one of the most successful golfers in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). Sörenstam began playing golf at age 12, and she was a member of the Swedish national team from 1987 to 1992. She attended the University of Arizona, where she won a National…

  • Kerri Walsh Jennings

    ByRajalakshmi

    Kerri Walsh-Jennings is a professional beach volleyball player and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She is the longtime competitive partner of Misty May-Treanor. Kerri Walsh-Jennings was born into an athletic family: Her father played minor league baseball, and her mother was a two-time Most Valuable Player in volleyball at Santa Clara University. In 1999, Walsh-Jennings joined…