Hidilyn Diaz is determined to wrap up her career after the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

But for Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP) president Monico Puentevella, her goal will be easier said than done.

Puentevella yesterday said Diaz’s road to the Olympics will be littered with challenges not just in the international arena, but also on the local soil with the emergence of younger, stronger and more focused competitors.

The former Bacolod lawmaker said instead of making another run for an Olympic medal, he wants to see his prized ward to take it slow and easy while enjoying the fruits of her hard work and sacrifices that she started to plant in 2008.

“Let’s see how she does in the national team tryouts. It is up to her but I want her to now start her own family,” Puentevella told DAILY TRIBUNE in a phone conversation.

“She lost to Elreen Ando in the National Open last week, so it is up to her to choose the right weight category.”

According to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), the three lightest weight categories that will be used in the LA Games are 48 kilograms, 53kgs, and 58kgs.

The 34-year-old Diaz initially competed in the Olympics under the 58kg category in 2008 and 2012 before switching to the lighter 53kg category in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she clinched a silver medal.

In the Tokyo Olympics, Diaz climbed to 55kgs, where she struck the gold medal. Unfortunately for her, the IWF scrapped that weight category in Paris, forcing her to compete in the heavier 59kg event, where she lost to Ando in the national trials.

Still, whether she books a return flight to the Summer Games or not, her legacy is already secured.

Aside from claiming the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal, Diaz also emerged victorious in the 2015 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Phuket, Thailand, the Asian Games in 2018 in Jakarta, the Southeast Asian Games champion in 2019 in Manila and 2022 in Hanoi, and the World Weightlifting Championships in Bogota in 2023.

She even established her own academy, the HD Weightlifting Academy, Jala-jala, Rizal to teach the next generation of athletes.

She was also instrumental in the return of weightlifting in the 65th Palarong Pambansa last May in Ilocos Norte, where she served as tournament director.

Puentevella said Diaz can still help the national team in different capacity. After all, she served as coach for Rizal Province during the Batang Pinoy last year in Puerto Princesa City and is already familiar with her young teammates like Ando, Rosegie Ramos, John Ceniza and Vanessa Sarno.