Diaz inspires Pinay weightlifters

Hidilyn Diaz has proven that a Pinay can excel in a male-dominated sport after winning a silver medal in the 53-kg division of the weightlifting competition of the ongoing Olympics in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Diaz ended the Philippines’ two decades of medal draught in the Olympics in her third appearance in the quadrennial meet. The country’s last Olympic silver medal came through pug Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco during the 1996 Atlanta Games.

“Filipinos, especially females, are afraid to try weightlifting because of the thought of having a mannish built when they undergo training—and this, we think, is the misconception that keeps them from the sport,” Blanche Barrun, president of the New Era University Barbell Club, told The Manila Times.