For Hidilyn Diaz and her team, the gold medal ‘wasn’t the end in mind’

Even before getting started on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hidilyn Diaz and her team believed it all goes beyond a highly coveted shiny medal

For Team HD, there was something much bigger than the historic gold. That's what the Filipino weightlifter’s sports nutritionist Jeaneth Aro revealed when she talked about Diaz’s journey to the very first Olympic gold medal of the Philippines.

On their way to the competition venue, their end in mind was not the biggest award, “but rather of complete surrender to God.” 

“We acknowledged the hard work that every member of Team HD has put in but we also completely understood that none of the technic and skills training, the strength and conditioning training, the mental skills training, and weight cut/recovery nutrition strategies will ever compare to the all-sustaining power of the Almighty God,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

While she said that the foundation was trust, it was faith in God that served as their cornerstone. “This is the truth and the reason, nothing more and nothing less,” continued Aro, who started working with Diaz in 2017 along with the rest of Team HD including Chinese head coach Gao Kaiwen, strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo, and psychologist Dr. Karen Trinidad.

Instead of a low-carb diet, Aro previously mentioned in an online webinar that she believes a "carb-controlled diet" is the way to go.

"Meaning, yung amount of carbohydrates na kakainin mo should be dependent on the level of intensity and the frequency of workout that you do in a day,” she explained. "So it’s not reduced carbs, but rather, just the right amount of carbs—preferably, before and after training and exercise."

Diaz won gold at the weightlifting women’s 55kg Group A division at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Monday, July 26. She also won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.