Update: Hidilyn Diaz ended the Philippines 20-year medal drought in the Olympics after bagging the silver medal in women's 53-kg weightlifting. Diaz successfully lifted 88 kilograms in the snatch phase of the competition before achieving a personal best 112 kg in clean & jerk.
Diaz was assured of a bronze medal after successfully clearing his second attempt of clean & jerk, but moved to second place after the power-play of eventual gold medalist Hsu Shu-Ching of Chinese Taipei paid off.
Diaz becomes the latest medalist for the Philippines after boxer Mansueto Onyok Velasco captured the silver in the men's light flyweight at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The Philippine continent went stumbling out of the gate as the competitions at the 2016 Olympics officially kicked off on Saturday. On the first salvo of action in Rio, Team Pilipinas already lost one of its strongest bet to medal with Charly Suarez's early exit, while netter Ian Lariba and swimmer Jessie Khing Lacuna also bombed out of contention in their respective sports discipline.
Nightmarish Start:
Lariba, the Philippine's flag-bearer in this edition of the Summer Games, fought valiantly against Xing Han of Congo, but just couldn't put together a rally to outclass her foe.
Lariba bowed out to Chinese-born table paddler in four sets (11-7, 13-11, 11-9, 11-7), dashing away any hope of winning a medal in a sport where the Philippines isn't known much of.
Swimming and boxing, sports where the Philippines once collected bunch of medals in the previous games, also provided disappointing results.
Lacuna clocked 4 mins, 1.70 seconds in Heat 2 to finish 46th overall in swimming men's 400m freestyle. Suarez, on the other hand, found himself a victim of tight scoring as he succumbed to much younger foe from Britain, Joseph Cordina (28-29, 29-28, 30-27).
Fresh Beginning:
Team Philippines will compete in three sports on Monday. Weightlifters Hidelyn Diaz and Nestor Colonia strut the wares against the best weightlifters early in the day, before boxer Rogen Lagdon kicked off his campaign against Yurberjen Herney Martinez of Colombia in the round-of-16 of light flyweight weight class.
Schedule & Live Stream:
Rogen Ladon vs. Yurberjen Herney Martinez (Colombia) - Boxing Men's Light Flyweight (46-49kg) / Round of 16: August 8 (Monday) 10:30pm: - Live Stream
Nestor Colonia - Weightlifting Men's 56kg / August 8 (Monday): - Live Stream
Hidilyn Diaz -Weightlifting Women's 53kg / August 8 (Monday): - Live Stream