Hidilyn Diaz reveals historic Olympic win was her first successful attempt at lifting 127 kilos

Hidilyn Diaz had never pulled off lifting 127 kilos — until the Olympics.

The Filipina weightlifter on Tuesday revealed that her winning lift was actually her first successful attempt.

"Na-try ko na siya sa training, pero hindi ko nagagawa. Everytime na na-try ko 'yun, hindi ko nagagawa, nafu-frustrate ako, umiiyak ako," she told Filipino journalists in a virtual press conference.

"'Di ko inexpect na mabuhat ko 'yun kahapon, siguro si God 'yun and all the people who prayed, sobrang thankful ako sa lahat ng nagdasal," she added.

[I've tried it during training, but I couldn't do it. Every time I tried, I failed. I got frustrated, I cried.

I didn't expect that I'd lift it yesterday, perhaps it was God and all the people who prayed, I'm very thankful for everyone who prayed.]

Diaz won the country's first-ever gold medal in the Olympics after winning the women's 55-kg weightlifting event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Monday at the Tokyo International Forum.

She finished with a total score 224 kg, lifting 97 in the snatch and 127 in the clean & jerk to outduel China's Liao Qiuyun for the gold.

Her win ended a near century-long Olympic gold medal drought since the Philippines first competed in the games in 1924.

This is Diaz's fourth consecutive Olympic appearance. In 2016, she won silver. —JCB, GMA News