Hidilyn Diz won the women's 55-kilogram weightlifting event at the Tokyo Games, ending a 97-year-long wait for a medal in the Olympics.Diaz broke down as she recorded her gold medal-winning effort, lifting an impressive 224 kilograms. This total was an Olympic record and one kilogram more than China's LiaoQiuyun who holds the 227kg world record set at the 2019 World Championships.This feat ends the 97-year-old Philippine Olympic gold-medal drought. The country entered the Olympics for the first time in 1924 when David Nepomuceno participated in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. It would win its first bronze medal in Amsterdam four years later, thanks to Teofilo Yldefonso’s third-place finish at the 200-meter breaststroke for men. The nation then won its first silver medal in Tokyo in 1964 when Anthony Villanueva was second in featherweight boxing.Silver was again won by the Philippines at Atlanta 1996 (Mansueto Valasco in light flyweightboxing) and Rio 2016 (Diaz 53kg weightlifting).
