JASIN, Malaysia – Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz grunts with the effort of hoisting a barbell over her head in an outdoor makeshift gym ringed by banana and rambutan trees as trucks thunder past — an unlikely training base for a shot at Olympic gold in Tokyo.
Diaz, 30, who took silver at Rio 2016, has been stuck in Malaysia since February last year because of the coronavirus pandemic but has remained determined to realise her dream of becoming the first Olympic gold medal winner from the Philippines.
“I’m ready. I can’t say at what percent, but I’m there — my mind is there, my heart is there, physically it’s there,” Diaz told AFP during a break from her long hou…
Keep on reading: Far from home: Weightlifter’s quest for first Philippines Olympic gold