Grassroots boost as Hidilyn Diaz’s weightlifting gym in Zamboanga gets new equipment

STRENGTH. A grassroots athlete makes a lift at Hidilyn Diaz's weightlifting gym in Mampang, Zamboanga City. Philippine Sports Commission Facebook page Multiple international champions have emerged from the weightlifting gym Hidilyn Diaz established in Mampang, Zamboanga City, in 2017 Hidilyn Diaz's weightlifting gym in Zamboanga City has produced multiple international champions, including gold medalists Alexsandra Ann Diaz and Jhodie Peralta at the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships. Diaz, 15, achieved a golden sweep in the youth division and won bronzes in the junior level, while 16-year-old Peralta secured five medals, including golds and silvers in both youth and junior divisions. The gym received new equipment from the Philippine Sports Commission, and Diaz expressed her happiness about the youth's interest in weightlifting and their aspirations to become medalists. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. MANILA, Philippines – Hidilyn Diaz’s weightlifting gym in her hometown of Mampang in Zamboanga City has already produced multiple international champions. This August, Alexsandra Ann Diaz and Jhodie Peralta — who both honed their skills at the gym — raked in gold medals in the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where the Philippines emerged as one of the best performing nations. Diaz, 15, completed a golden sweep in the youth division of the women’s 49kg category and also held her own at the junior level, bagging a pair of bronzes in snatch and total lift. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Peralta bagged five medals in the women’s 59kg class, striking a pair of golds in snatch and total lift and a silver in clean and jerk at the youth level before bagging gold in snatch and silver in total lift in the junior division. And the prospects of the gym developing more champions in the future are promising as it received new equipment from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). The PSC on Wednesday, August 19, turned over new sets of weights, steel bars, dumbbells, and medicine balls to the gym, where over 20 grassroots athletes train. Diaz, the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist, said she is glad that the gym that she built in 2017 — a year after she won silver in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games — continues to thrive. “I’m happy to see that a lot of our youth are trying weightlifting and are dreaming to become medalists,” Diaz wrote on Facebook in Filipino. Diaz also oversees the HD Weightlifting Academy in Jala-jala, Rizal, together with husband-coach Julius Naranjo. A staunch advocate of weightlifting, Diaz was instrumental in it becoming a regular sport in the Palarong Pambansa. Diaz, 35, also teaches weightlifting as a physical education subject at the University of the Philippines Diliman. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading