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Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz aims to re-write the history books at Tokyo 2020

Filipino weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz is aiming to re-write the history books at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Diaz, 28, became the first Filipino woman to win a medal at Rio four years ago when she took silver in the 53kg final.

Tokyo will be her fourth consecutive Games but this time round she is aiming for gold.

She won three gold medals at the Weightlifting World Cup in Rome at the end of last month which has raised expectations for her to seal gold in Tokyo.

And Diaz is now having to focus dealing with the pressure ahead of the summer.

She said: “It was a different story back in 2016 because no one expected that I would win.

“In 2020, everyone now believes we have a chance to win a medal in the Olympics, of course, the pressure and the expectations are high.

“I need to prepare and formulate a strategy. I can’t just go there to Japan and expect to win without doing anything.

“Sometimes I question why it’s so hard, why it’s difficult to win in the Olympics, and why I have to push myself hard in training. Sometimes I question why I need to give everything to the country, if people are deserving of what I work hard for. I can retire and walk away, but if I do that, I’m showing the world that we Filipinos easily give up.

“What keeps me going is my goal, my goal for the country. We all want to win a gold medal in the Olympics and for how many years no one has done it yet?

“In sports, it’s not always miracles. Almost all the time, you have to work hard for it,” she added.

By Alicia Turner, NewsChain