MELAKA, July 29 (Sin Chew Daily) — A simple garage in a rural village in Kesang Tua, Jasin had been the training ground for Hidilyn Diaz before the weightlifter won the first Olympic gold media for her country the Philippines.

Diaz, 30, made history when she won the gold medal in the women's 55kg class in Tokyo Olympics.

Yang di-Pertua Negeri Melaka Tun Mohd Ali Rustam visited the garage at Ahmad Janius Abdullah's home where Diaz used as her training ground.

Ahmad Janius, deputy president of Malaysian Weightlifting Federation, provided Diaz a place to undergo training after her training was disrupted by the implementation of movement control order last year.

Ahmad Janius, who is also a weightlifting coach, has known Diaz for about ten years.

They returned to Jasin on September 16 last year and Ahmad Janius upgraded the facilities at the garage for training.

The quiet rural environment was good for Diaz to focus on her training, said Ahmad Janius.

"She is a very disciplined athlete. She is very focused and may not even notice that someone is greeting her during training," he said.

Ahmad Janius said he did not mind letting Diaz stay at his home.

After Diaz' victory, Ahmad Janius received calls from weightlifters from as far away as Finland and Australia expressing their interest to undergo training in Malaysia during winter.

Accompanied by Sungai Rambai state assemblyman Datuk Hasan Abd Rahman, Mohd Ali was at Ahmad Janius' home for 15 minutes to visit his garage.

Ahmad Janius hoped that Diaz's victory would inspire Malaysian weightlifters to set their eyes on the Olympics.

Diaz, who loves spicy food and durian, won a silver in the Rio Games in 2016.