Diaz-Naranjo seeks PH’s first gold medal in world weightlifting tilt in 52 years
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 04 Dec 2022
Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo.
Don’t look now, but did you know that when the first Filipino Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo plunges into action in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships starting Monday (Tuesday in Manila), she will be seeking an end to the Philippines’ 52-year gold medal drought in the event?
And that she will, too, be trying to improve on the three bronze medals she romped off during the 2015 edition of the worlds in Houston, Texas that earned for her a slot in the 2021 Games of the Olympics where she gifted the country its first gold medal after waiting in vain for 97 years to realize?
Well, Diaz-Naranjo, as well as her eight teammates that make Team Philippines in this year’s worlds in Bogota, will be seeking to duplicate where another pint-sized Salvador del Rosario succeeded in the XXIVth staging of the Championship held in Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on September 12, 1970.
First Filipino world weightlifting champ Salvador del Rosario. From EDDIE ALINEA'S files.
Del Rosario, in that edition of the world tourney, stashed away with top honors in the clean and jerk discipline in the flyweight division.
The young barely 20-year-old nephew of Rodrigo del Rosario, who in the 1952 Olympic Games n Helsinki, equaled the Games’ standard in the press in ending up fourth in his sport.
The younger Del Rosario, son of Rodrigo’s brother Valentin, likewise, exceeded the existing Asian record by 5 kilograms in that gold medal performance no other Filipino strongman was able to match in the succeeding staging of the worlds in the years that followed.
And it looks like the only second Filipino athlete to have brought home multiple Olympic medals in the quadrennial conclave outside of swimmer Teofilo Yldefonso, has got what it takes to match, if not succeed in outshining Salvador del Rosario’s heroics in Columbus.
This after reports were that she now is the top seed in the women’s 55-kilogram discipline after the name of her co-favorite Zuilfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan was nowhere to be found in the list of starters in the event.
And with the now-retired Chinese Liao Quiyun, who finished second to Diaz–Naranjo in the Tokyo Games, also absent, there’s no more reasons why The Filipina could miss the gold medal this time.
This year’s worlds is set December 5-16.
Other members of Team Philippines who left last Friday for Bogota are Rio de Janeiro Olympian Nestor Colonia (55 kgs), John Febuar Ceniza (61 kgs) and Dave Lloyd Pacaldo (67 kgs), who are entered in the men’s competitions.
Also in the team are Asian champion Vanessa Sarno and Kristel Macrohon in the 71 kgs class, Rosegie Ramos and Lovely Inan in the 49 kgs category and Elreen Ann Ando in the 59 kgs event of the women’ side.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh To headline historic “Legacy Nights” Inaugural Pro Boxing event in El Salvador
Tue, 16 Sep 2025Smarts over power
By Joaquin Henson, Tue, 16 Sep 2025HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
Tue, 16 Sep 2025Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
Tue, 16 Sep 2025THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
By Maloney L. Samaco, Mon, 15 Sep 2025A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
By Dong Secuya, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
Mon, 15 Sep 202521-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
By Marlon Bernardino, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sun, 14 Sep 2025