Hidilyn Diaz wins at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and the gold medal breaks the internet. All Filipinos celebrate the first-ever gold won by a Filipino athlete in the Olympic Games in 97 years. But did you know that Diaz’s feats include a lot of firsts?

Let us look at all of Hidilyn Diaz’s weightlifting achievements in a timeline that shows how she became the badass woman that she is.

Diaz’ Early Weightlifting Years

Hidilyn Diaz starts to gain momentum in the sports with these awards:

• At the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand, she became a bronze medalist.
• At the 2006 Asian Games, she achieved 10th place in the 53-kilogram class.
• She won two (2) golds and one (1) silver in the Asian Youth or Junior Weightlifting Championship held in Jeonju, South Korea. It was when she was still a student and representing Universidad de Zamboanga.

Diaz’ International Weightlifting Journey

Here is the timeline of Hidilyn Diaz’ weightlifting journey:

2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing

• The youngest among the competitors in the women’s 58-kg category
• First to vie for a medal in the sport since 1988
• First Filipina to compete in weightlifting
• A wildcard entry for the Beijing Games, she placed as sixth lifter overall.

Diaz was able to lift 97kg in her third attempt, a decent feat taking 11th place out of 19 players. However, she fell short in lifting 120kg in the clean and jerk, crashing out in all of her three attempts.

2012 Continental and World Qualifying Tournaments

• Diaz ranked 9th in the event in lifting 58kg, making her qualified for the Olympics.
• First Filipina in the weightlifting competition to vie in two consecutive Olympics.

2012 Summer Olympics, London

• Hidilyn Diaz was chosen to be the flagbearer during the Opening Ceremony.
• She lifted 97kg in the snatch successfully, which is a personal best and 12th among other 19 weightlifters.

However, Diaz failed to lift 118 kg in clean and jerk after all her three attempts. She ended with the result of Did Not Finish or DNF, along with Lina Rivas of Colombia.

2015 Weightlifting Championships

• Diaz garnered gold at the Asian Weightlifting Championships held in Phuket, Thailand.
• She also got a bronze medal at the World Weightlifting Championships held in Houston, Texas,

2016 Weightlifting Championship

• At WWC, she finished 3rd place in the Asian tilt held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

All her wins at the weightlifting championships paved the way to her goal of joining the Rio Olympics. She also dropped weight, which proved to be an effective strategy, as she got qualified for the most recent Olympics.

2016 Summer Olympics, Rio

• Diaz snared a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• The first silver medal in the Olympic games since 1996
• Also, the first non-boxing medal since 1936

Despite starting low, Diaz became the second placer after her competitor failed to manage a single clearance of clean and jerk.

2017 World Championships

• Diaz won a bronze medal in the world championship held in London.

2018 Asian Games

• Diaz obtained the first gold of the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games.
• Became the very first Filipino weightlifter, regardless of any gender, to win a gold medal in the Asian Games.

She had managed a total lift of 207 kg (in women’s 53 kg), surpassing Kristina Shermetova of Turkmenistan (206 kg) and Surodchana Khambao of Thailand (201 kg).

2019 World Championship

• Hidilyn Diaz won 2 bronze medals at International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships for the women’s category (55kg).

2019 Asian Championship

• She snatched silver.

2019 Southeast Asian Games

• She obtained another gold in SEA games held in Manila.

2020 World Cup, Rome

• In January, Diaz won the gold medal in the women's category (55kg) at the Roma 2020 World Cup in Italy.

2021 Summer Olympics, Tokyo

After a year of delay, the 2020 Olympic Games opened.

• Hidilyn Diaz finally won the gold medal at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
• She set a new record by lifting 127kg in the Clean and Jerk and a total weight of 224 kg.
• It’s the very first gold medal won by a Filipino athlete since 1924.

Aside from these massive triumphs, Hidilyn Diaz is also an Airwoman First Class, health and fitness entrepreneur, GA Representative in the Philippine Olympic Committee, and mentor to other Filipino weightlifters.