Hidilyn Diaz is the fifth of six children of Eduardo and Emelita Diaz. Her father was a tricycle driver before becoming a farmer and a fisherman. She grew up wanting to be a banker and trying several sports, like basketball and volleyball. Her cousin, Allen Jayfrus Diaz, taught her the basics of weightlifting. She attended the Universidad de Zamboanga where she pursued a bachelor's degree in computer science. However, Diaz stopped attending the university as a third year irregular student as she found her degree unsuitable for her. She also claimed that it distracted her training. After her stint in the 2016 Olympics, Diaz decided to continue her tertiary education and intended to pursue a degree related to sports in Manila. In January 2017, Diaz received a scholarship to study business management at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
Diaz was selected as a wild card entry to the Summer Olympics by the Philippine Weightlifting Association in early 2008. She is the first female weightlifter to compete for the Philippines in the Olympics, and the second weightlifter overall. Competing in the women's 58-kg class, 17-year-old Diaz lifted 85-kg in the snatch and 107-kg in the clean and jerk for a 192-kg total, breaking the Philippine record that she herself set at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games. Although she placed second to last in a field of 12 weightlifters, her performance was praised and considered promising for her age. Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William Ramirez once commented that she competed there to gain valuable experience and predicted that she would be a strong contender in future competitions.
2012 Summer Olympics
Diaz became the first Filipina weightlifter to compete in consecutive Olympics, by qualifying in the women's weightlifting under 58 kg through the Continental and World Qualifying Tournaments. She was ranked ninth in her event heading to the Olympics. During the 2012 London Olympics, Diaz was chosen to be the flagbearer during the Opening Ceremony. She was coached by Tony Agustin, and they projected a 225 kg lift, above her personal best of 219 kg. She successfully lifted a personal best of 287 97 kg in the snatch, 12th best among the 19 competitors. However her 118 kg Clean and Jerk was unsuccessful after three attempts. She is one of two competitors to end with an official result of "Did not finish" in the event.
2015–16 season
Hidilyn Diaz weighed around 56.28 kg during her first Olympic campaign, making her the lightest among competitors. Come 2012 Olympics, Hidilyn Diaz increased her weight to 57.70 kg but still struggled making it to the top half of the competition. Trying to improve her chances of landing a podium finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Diaz decided to drop weight from under 58 kg to under 53 kg. This proved to be effective as she recently snatched the gold medal in the 1st Southeast Asian Weightlifting Championship in Bangkok. She managed to lift a 98 kg snatch and a 115 kg clean and jerk for a 213 kg total. The same mark is good for 4th place in the 2012 London Olympics. In the Asian Weightlifting Championships, Diaz copped a gold medal in 2015 and a bronze medal in 2016. She also earned three bronze medals for the clean, jerk and snatch events in the 53 kg division of the IWF World Weightlifting Championship held in Houston, Texas on November 22, 2015 to claim a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics. In March 2016, Diaz dominated the women's 58 kg event of the 2015-16 Philippine National Games National Finals held at Lingayen Town Plaza, Lingayen, Pangasinan, with a 92 kg snatch and 120 kg clean and jerk combined into 212 kg.
2016 Summer Olympics
In the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Diaz competed in the women's 53kg weightlifting category with the intention of at least winning a bronze medal. Diaz surpassed her own personal target and won the silver medal at the event, after successfully clinching a lift of 88 kg in her second attempt in snatch event and 111 kg and 112 kg in the first and second attempts in the clean and jerk event. This was the first medal for the Philippines in the Summer Olympics after 20 years. This was also the first non-boxing medal for the nation since 1936. Aside from being the first Filipina weightlifter to compete in three consecutive Olympics, she also became the first Filipino woman and first Mindanaoan to win an Olympic medal. On August 8, 2016, she returned to her hometown, Zamboanga City and was welcomed as a Hero of the city, She was able to buy land for her sibling and for her gym from receiving numerous incentives from the Philippine president, Philippine Sports Commission and her local city.
Diaz participated in the Women's 53 kilogram weightlifting event in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Diaz had a total lift of 207 kg, beating Turkmenistan's Kristina Shermetova and Thailand's Surodchana Khambao to deliver the Philippines' first gold in the 2018 games, as well as the first Filipino weightlifter of any gender to win a gold medal in the Asian Games.
2019
After winning a bronze in the 2017 World Championships, Diaz again got a bronze in the 2019 edition of the same event. She also won a silver in the 2019 Asian Championship, and another gold in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Manila.
2020
In 2020 she won the gold medal in the women's 55kg event at the Roma 2020 World Cup in Rome, Italy.
Military career
Diaz was recruited into the Philippine Air Force through the military arm's Direct Enlistment Program in 2013. She was initially assigned to the Air Force Special Service Group. She was also given an Air Force Specialty Code skill in recreation in weightlifting. In 2014, she was given a promotion from the rank of Airwoman to Airwoman Second Class. Diaz was also a recipient of a Military Merit Medal for organizing PAF events and a Presidential Citation Unit Badge. When Diaz was training for her stint at the 2016 Summer Olympics, she was assigned to PAF Personnel Management Center on a temporary basis. For her achievement at the Olympics, she was given a promotion by the PAF. The extent of the promotion was initially not disclosed but it was later reported that Diaz was promoted to the rank of Airwoman First Class. Following Diaz's stint in the 2018 Asian Games, she was promoted to Airwoman Sergeant.
In popular media
Diaz' life was dramatized in an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya, a drama anthology series, aired on September 24, 2016. She was portrayed by Jane Oineza.
