London Olympics 2012

Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippine team

I was not able to watch the parade of the athletes during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics 2012, so I made an effort last night to watch, until 1:00 in the morning, the weightlifting event for the women division because Philippines has one entry, Hidilyn Diaz, who was the Philippine flag bearer during the opening ceremony.

She is only 21 years old and the Philippines' strongest hope to bring home a medal for this Olympics. She  had represented the Philippines during the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as a wild card entry on the same event. She was a bronze medalist at the age of 15 during the 2007 SEA games and ranked 9th in the world. I thought she could make it, unfortunately, she was not able to lift the weights when it was set at 133 kgs. Diaz tried and I could see how much she wanted to win. I saw her crying and hugged by her coach as disappointment and frustration registered all over her face when her three attempts failed, but for me it's okay at least she had tried and represented the country with dignity. She has still plenty of time to improve, she is only 21. 

So shocked with the women's strength lifting the heavy metal with a weight equivalent to 5 sacks of rice! Li XuYieng of China was amazing, she was a gold medalist in the Beijing Olympics on the same event and she did it again, this time setting another world record, she was unbeatable at 138 kg weightlifting, a representative from Thailand, Pimsiri Shirikaew (who looked like a complete male hahaha!) attempted to defeat XuYieng at 140 kg but she was not able to do it and just settled for silver with a record lift of 136 kg.

Update from The Telegraph UK (which I am reading right now), the women's 58 kg weightlifting conference was delayed because Pimshiri Shirikaew was speaking to the King of Thailand. Wheew!

Diaz finished 17th with Rivas of Colombia who was endured during her attempt. I don't like weightlifting event of course but this was the only event presented by IBC 13 last night so pinagtiyagaan ko na lang hehehe. My favorite events in the World Olympics are Equestrian, Synchronized Swimming, Gymnastic, Women's Volleyball and Lawn Tennis. 

I am hoping against hope that I could watch the following athletes in action: Zara Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, who is part of the UK team for Equestrian, Princess Natalie, niece of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who is part of the Danish Equestrian theme, Maria Sharapova, a Tennis sensation representing Russia, Francesca Piccinini, an Italian volleyball player and the rest of the Philippine delegates who are not yet eliminated like Mark Anthony Barriga, a boxer from Panabo, Davao del norte, who is now Philippines' lone hope to bring home a medal.

GOLD TALLY AS OF JULY 31, 2012 (12:00 noon)

1. China - 9

2. USA - 5

3. France - 3  

4. North Korea - 3 

5. Italy - 2

6. South Korea - 2

7. Russia - 2

8. Kazakhstan - 2

9. Japan - 1

10. Australia - 1

Host country, Great Britain, has yet to get a gold medal and currently on the 20th rank