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.
| Hidilyn diaz Bio | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Hidilyn diaz | ||||||
| Nationality | Filipino | ||||||
| Age | 30 years | ||||||
| Date of Birth | February 20, 1991 | ||||||
| Place of Birth | Zamboanga City, Philippines | ||||||
| Physical Stats & More | |||||||
| Height | 1.49 m (4 ft 10 1⁄2 in) | ||||||
| Weight | 53 kilograms (117 lb) | ||||||
| Hair Colour | Black | ||||||
| Eye Colour | Black | ||||||
| Shoe size | 6 | ||||||
| Sport | Weightlifting | ||||||
| Event(s) | –55 kg | ||||||
| Club | Zamboanga | ||||||
| Coached by | Gao Kaiwen (Weightlifting Coach) | ||||||
| Julius Naranjo (Weightlifting/Strength and Conditioning Coach) Catalino Diaz (First Coach) | |||||||
| Antonio Agustin Jr. (Former Coach) | |||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||
| Personal best(s) | Snatch: 97 kg (2021) | ||||||
| Clean & Jerk: 127 kg (2021, OR) | |||||||
| Total: 224 kg (2021, OR) | |||||||
| Olympic Games | |||||||
| Gold medal – first place | 2020 Tokyo –55 kg | ||||||
| Silver medal – second place | 2016 Rio de Janeiro –53 kg | ||||||
| World Championships | |||||||
| Bronze medal – third place | 2015 Houston –53 kg | ||||||
| Bronze medal – third place | 2017 Anaheim –53 kg | ||||||
| Bronze medal – third place | 2019 Pattaya –55 kg | ||||||
| Asian Games | |||||||
| Gold medal – first place | 2018 Jakarta–Palembang –53 kg | ||||||
| Asian Championships | |||||||
| Gold medal – first place | 2015 Phuket –53 kg | ||||||
| Silver medal – second place | 2019 Ningbo –55 kg | ||||||
| Bronze medal – third place | 2016 Tashkent –53 kg | ||||||
| Father | Eduardo Diaz Sr | ||||||
| Mother | Emelita Diaz |
