What was going on in Hidilyn Diaz' mind during last lift to win Olympic gold?

Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz was not thinking about winning when she stepped onto the platform for her last clean and jerk lift in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Instead, Diaz said she was thinking about how prepared she was for the moment.

"At first, hindi ko inisip kung ito na 'yung moment kung mananalo na ba ako or Olympic record na ako," Diaz recalled in an interview on 24 Oras.

"Ang inisip ko noong time na 'yun is that I am prepared kasi 'yun ang sinabi sa akin ng sports nutritionist ko."

[At first, I was not thinking about if this was the moment that I would win or set an Olympic record. All I was thinking about at that time was that I am prepared because that was what my sports nutritionist told me.]

Her last lift, which weighed 127 kg, was just a kilo heavier than the last attempt of China's representative and silver medalist Liao Qiuyun.

This was actually part of the coaches' strategy.

"One day before ng laro ko, nag-usap sila na ito ang gagawin: one kilo lang na mataas kay China, ok na 'yan," she recalled. "'Di mo na kailangan maging five kilos away.' Sundan lang natin si China, 'yan ang strategy nila."

[One day before the competition, they discussed it and this was the plan: just one kilo heavier than China, and that's okay. 'You don't need to be five kilos away.' Let's just follow China, that was the strategy.]

But one kilo heavier is easier said than done against a lifter who held the world records for both the total and the clean and jerk in her category.

When the moment came, Diaz needed to lift 127 kg, a weight that she admitted that she was afraid of back in training.

"Pumunta na ako sa platform. Inisip ko lang ang dapat gawin. Walang takot, pumasok ako," she narrated.

[I went to the platform. I thought about what I had to do. I just went in with no fear.]

And she said that at that point, it just hit her differently.

"Dito, wala akong takot na naramdaman. Ginawa ko lang, sinabi ko lang, 'one motion.' Nung jerk, nagawa ko. May konting doubt ako sa jerk pero sabi ko, hindi, hindi. Nagawa ko," she said.

[Here, I didn't feel any fear. I just did it, I just said, 'one motion'. I was able to do the jerk. I had a little bit of doubt with the jerk but I said, no. I was able to get it done.]

And when Diaz cleared the 127 kg lift, she herself was surprised at what she had accomplished.

"Kahit ako, nabigla na, 'Wow, kaya ko pala' and natalo ko ang China."

[Even I was surprised. 'Wow, I can do it after all.' And I beat China.]

Diaz lifted a total of 224 kg, while China's Liao had 223 kg.

And with that, Diaz wrote history by becoming the Philippines' first-ever Olympic gold medalist.

Prior to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she had also won a silver medal in the 2016 edition of the Summer Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/JMB, GMA News