By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Another Diaz is making waves on the international weightlifting stage as Alexsandra Diaz shattered the byouth world records in her weight class at the IWF World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia on Monday, July 6 (Philippine time).
The 15-year-old Diaz, niece of Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, dominated the women’s 48kg in record-breaking fashion, eclipsing the world standard marks in the clean & jerk and total.
She lifted 98 kilograms in the clean & jerk, eclipsing the 97kg youth world standard set by the IWF on June 1, 2025, and reset the total world standard with 175kg, two kilos better than the previous mark.
Earlier, she lifted 77kg in the snatch to secure another gold, completing a three-gold sweep in her weight division.
Romania’s Adelina Maria Lorint bagged the silver with a 164kg total, while Venezuela’s Osorio Valeria Del Valle settled for the bronze with 162kg.
Althea Bacaro and Jay-R Colonia added to Team Philippines’ medal haul with podium finishes in their respective weight classes, capping a blazing start for the squad.
Competing in the women’s 44kg, Bacaro settled for silver in clean & jerk with 80kg and finished with a bronze medal in total with 140kgs. She came up short of a podium finish in snatch, landing in fourth with 60kg.
Colonia, for his part, took home the clean & jerk gold with 140kgs after a silver in snatch (109kg) for a runner-up finish in total with 249kg — four kgs lighter than eventual gold winner Mohammed Nawaf Al Ojaian of Saudi Arabia.
Competing in the coming days are Rhianne Cabalida (69kg), Jea Mae Palagtiw (77kg) and Kirby Kent Alas-as (60kg).
