OLYMPIC champion Hidilyn Diaz is gearing up with the rest of the Philippine weightlifting team for the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup tournament in Phuket, Thailand.

The tournament will serve as the final qualifying event in weightlifting for the upcoming Paris Olympics later this year.

Diaz on Wednesday showed a social media story of herself and her team that includes husband-coach Julius Naranjo at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Based on the IWF's Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Rankings (OQR) for the women's 59-kilogram (kg) division as of March 4, Diaz is in 8th position, after her participation at last year's IWF World Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and lifted a total of 224 kg. China's Luo Shifang currently tops this list.

"And we are off to our final Olympic qualifier in Phuket," Naranjo posted on his Instagram page on Wednesday. "It has been an extraordinary journey for us, and TeamHD is excited to represent the country."

Fellow Olympian Elreen Ando is expected to join Diaz in Phuket, as well as Rosegie Ramos in the women's 49 kg, Vanessa Sarno and Kristel Macrohon in the women's 71 kg, and John Febuar Ceniza in the men's 61 kg.

Based on the IWF's OQR, Ceniza is ranked 6th (men's 61 kg), Ramos is 9th (women's 49 kg) and Sarno is 5th (women's 71 kg).

According to the IWF, the OQR includes one athlete per Olympic bodyweight category per National Olympic Committee with the highest totals in kilograms achieved in any qualification event.

Ando and Macrohon did not appear on the Olympic qualification ranking list, but Ando is ranked 8th on the IWF's World Ranking list in the women's 59 kg. Both lifters, along with Lovely Inan (women's 49 kg), appear on the long list, which meet the "event participation criteria" of the qualification system.

The IWF World Cup in Phuket will run from March 31 to April 11.

Read The Rest at :