Cebu Weightlifting Association (CWA) president Felix Tiukinhoy lauded Hidilyn Diaz for her latest feat in the Asian Games, and urged the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) to push for an election for weightlifting to help discover more potential athletes.
“The Cebu Weightlifting Association congratulates Hidilyn Diaz for winning the first gold medal in the Asian Games. Her victory proves that this sport is perfect for the build of the Filipinos,” Tiukinhoy said.
Diaz, who also ended the country’s Olympic medal drought with a silver in the Rio Olympics in 2016, won the gold medal in the 53-kilogram category by lifting a total of 207 kilos (92 in the snatch and 115 in the clean and jerk) to win the Philippines’ first gold medal in tthe quadrennial meet.
Diaz has also been a regular guest of the CWA in the group’s grassroots and coaching seminars and also during last month’s National Students Championships.
The CWA organized the event because of a lack of tournaments for weightlifting in the sport brought about by the inactivity of the Philippine Weightlifting Association Inc. (PWA) and the emergence of the Samahang Weightlifting sa Pilipinas (SWP), a group that wants to replace PWA as the recognized body for the sport in the country.
Tiukinhoy is hoping Diaz’s victory will bring attention to the sad plight of the sport and the PWA, which recently got a boost when the POC rebuffed SWP president Monico Puentevella’s move to have it replaced as an NSA for the sport under the POC umbrella.
The CWA has also urged POC president Ricky Vargas to help call for an election for PWA so the NSA can finally restart its program.
“It is sad that while weightlifting has delivered a medal for the country in the Olympics and in the Asian Games, the PWA can’t get off ground because of the absence of an election, a problem which has been compounded by the emergence of the SWP. Though we thank the POC for telling the breakaway group that it is the PWA that it is recognizing as the NSA for weightlifting, the Cebu Weightlifing Association feels an election will lift this uncertainty for the sport in the country,” Tiukinhoy said.
Tiukinhoy added that if PWA gets on track, more athletes like Hidilyn Diaz could be discovered.
“We feel that weightlifing can win the countr’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo, and I hope the POC can help address the problem in the PWA so we can move on with our program,” said Tiukinhoy.
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