Although weightlifting made a return to the Palarong Pambansa, Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz says much work still needs to be done to lift the sport even further and make it more appealing for youngsters.
The recently-concluded 2025 Palarong Pambansa held in Ilocos Norte was a personal triumph of sorts for Hidilyn Diaz, as it marked the return of weightlifting to the calendar of events. Add to that, it was her nephew Matthew who won the first weightlifting gold.
However, if you ask the country’s greatest weightlifter of all time, the path forward for the sport is still littered with challenges. While Diaz is grateful to the Department of Education for finally heeding the call to bring back weightlifting to the Palaro, she knows work has just begun.
For one thing, weightlifting’s status in the Palaro is still that of a demonstration sport, meaning all medals won were not included in the official medal tally. Hidilyn hopes to change this in the succeeding Palaro stagings.
“Yes, success siya,” Diaz said during the launching of Jollibee’s #BidaBestBidaPinoy campaign on Thursday night where she was recognized as a world-class Filipino along with fellow Olympians EJ Obiena and Carlos Yulo. “Pero demo sport kasi ang weightlifting sa Palarong Pambansa, at marami pa tayong dapat gawin. Maraming proseso pero nagpapasalamat ako sa DepEd at sa manager ko for helping and the SWP (Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas) for helping me realize this.”
Hidilyn is, of course, thrilled that her very own nephew is following in her footsteps and has gotten off to a a good start in his weightlifting career. Matthew Diaz, a 14-year-old from Rizal province, won gold for Calabarzon in the secondary boys’ 48kg division.
“Yes, I’m happy with it,” she said. “And I’m happy na nakita niya na may potential sa weightlifting. And masaya ako na nanalo siya ng gold kasi lahat na pinag-practice niya, nagbunga.”
Weightlifting was once a regular event in the Palaro until it was scrapped sometime in the 1980s. It was eventually brought back as an exhibition sport before being elevated this year to a demonstration sport.
The next step is to bring it back to being a regular sport. There is still a lengthy process ahead for this to happen, but Hidilyn is committed to seeing this through.
“Sana maging regular sport. But yun nga, may proseso. Kailangan ng proposal and hoping na makapasa kami, makapasa ang weightlifting para maging regular sport at ma-meet ang criteria.”
Starting them young
Weightlifting is showing tremendous promise in the Philippines. According to Hidilyn Diaz, the success of our junior weightlifters is there for everyone to see.
“Marami po tayong successful athletes ngayon,” she said. “Actually, they just won the World Youth and Juniors sa Peru. Then they won Asian Championship noong May lang. And then ngayon, we’re spreading the sport sa Pilipinas dahil sa Palarong Pambansa.”
The biggest challenge as of now, Diaz says, is convincing more regions in the country to introduce the sport at the grassroots level.
“For now, to be sure na ma-spread ang weightlifting sa Palarong Pambansa at maging regular sport siya, kailangan ma-spread siya all over the regions. Hindi lang siya yung sa certain region lang.
“Ngayon nine regions lang. So yung next is to spread it all over the 18 to 19 regions here in the Philippines. At sana mas marami pa tayong makitang potential athletes.”
Nevertheless, Hidilyn Diaz is happy that weightlifting’s return to the Palarong Pambansa has created a buzz. As tournament director of the sport, part of her job is to ensure that the momentum isn’t wasted.
“It’s good na na-recognize ang sport namin ulit, not lang nung nanalo ako noong Olympics. But now, it’s more on how to grow the sport sa grassroots. And I’m so happy na maraming regions na interesado na mag-include ng weightlifting sa kanilang program at maraming atleta na ngayon interesado dahil nasa Palarong Pambansa. I’m so happy there’s a lot of support.”
Hidilyn recognizes that weightlifting is perceived as a “dangerous” sport by many, which is one reason why many local government units (LGUs) are hesitant to support it. She wishes to address this stigma by sitting down with local officials to alleviate their fears.
“That’s the next big thing that we need to do. I need the help ng LGU, ng lahat ng stakeholders, para magawa namin ng SWP ang safety for weightlifting, for coaches. It’s really important for them to know the rules and then how to coach properly yung athletes.
“Kasi at the end of the day, hindi lang naman yung buhat-buhat. They have to know the foundation. And as tournament director and the one that’s leading the technical working group para ma-propose as regular sport ang weightlifting, that’s one of my proposals. Na magkaroon ng program for national technical officials and national coaches certified para sa mga DepEd coaches and DepEd technical officials. That’s the goal.”
Images from Sid Ventura