Julius Naranjo
 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Julius Irvin Hikaru T. Naranjo |
| Citizenship | American / Filipino |
| Born | June 14, 1991 Tamuning, Guam, U.S. |
| Education | Bachelor of Science Exercise Science and Health Promotions with a Minor in Nutrition from the University of Guam Level 1 IWF Advanced Coaching Certificate Holder |
| Alma mater | Father Duenas Memorial School |
| Occupation | Weightlifter, Coach, filmmaker |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Guam |
| Sport | Weightlifting |
| Now coaching | Hidilyn Diaz |
Julius Irvin Hikaru T. Naranjo (born 14 June 1991) is a Guamanian weightlifter, coach, and filmmaker. He competed for Guam in the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and coaches Filipino Olympic weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz.
Early life and education[]
Julius Irvin Hikaru T. Naranjo is the eldest son of a Filipino father and Japanese mother and has 3 younger siblings.
Naranjo had earned his Bachelor of Sciences in Exercise Science & Health Promotions with a minor in Nutrition at the University of Guam in 2013.
Weightlifting career[]
Naranjo had represented Guam's National Weightlifting Team and is a record holder in the old 69kg weight category.[1] He had represented Guam at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games[2] in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan competing in the 62kg weight category.[3][4]
A career-ending back injury forced Naranjo's retirement.
Coaching career[]
After retiring from competitive weightlifting, Naranjo turned to coaching. During his athletic career, Naranjo was also managing a functional fitness facility and physical therapy clinic, where he had coached classes and did strength & conditioning for various clients including students and Guam national athletes.
Naranjo as of 2020, is currently a weightlifting coach, strength & conditioning coach, and team manager for Team HD,[5] the Olympic Core team for Hidilyn Diaz[6] who competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which was later postponed to July 2021.[7]
Naranjo and Hidilyn Diaz, along with their Head Coach Kaiwen Gao have been training in Malaysia[8] as lockdowns and the current situation of COVID-19 around the world have created a difficult situations for all Olympic Bound athletes.
Naranjo also does remote coaching for weightlifting athletes and has built a good following from his coaching and weightlifting videos with more than 20,000 followers on his Instagram.[9]
Filmmaking career[]
 | This article relies too much on references to primary sources. (October 2021) |
Aside from being a coach, Naranjo is also a filmmaker who co-founded the Collective Culture[10] and also promotes the sport of weightlifting on Instagram and Facebook.
Naranjo had worked for just over a year as a production artist and had been a Director of Photography for a number of productions[11] with Docomo Pacific, a telecommunications company based in Guam.
Naranjo and Hidilyn Diaz have collaborated through Collective Culture to help spread her awareness advocacy of weightlifting by creating documentaries such as Move to Inspire[12][13] and Lifters for Lifters.[14]
Naranjo collaborated with Malaysian/Filipino singer Yazmin Aziz as a filmmaker for her news segment on TFC News Asia and aiding with a number of projects for her music.[15][16]
Personal life[]
Naranjo is engaged to Hidilyn Diaz;[17] both had been featured together in various Philippine television programs. This includes an episode of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho in GMA where their romantic relationship was featured.[18] They were also featured on Sports U[19] and Magandang Buhay[20] of ABS-CBN.
Naranjo is also Diaz's assistant weightlifting strength and conditioning coach helping the latter secure the Philippines' first-ever Olympic gold medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[21]
References[]
- ^ Tomas, Jojo Santo. "Meet Guam's Team for the Asian Indoor Games: Weightlifting". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ Post, Matt Weiss | The Guam Daily. "Guam posts mixed results in Asian Indoor Games". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ "Athletes - International Weightlifting FederationInternational Weightlifting Federation". www.iwf.net. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ "Julius Naranjo represents Guam in Asian Indoor Games". www.guampdn.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ ""I will remain focused and determined" - Hidilyn Diaz' powerful message to the Philippines". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ Solon, Pio (2020-04-18). "Solon: How an elite athlete trains through the ECQ". Sunstar. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
- ^ "Tokyo Olympics officially postponed until 2021". ESPN.com. 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
- ^ "Hidilyn Diaz gets timely MVPSF financial aid to boost Olympic bid". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
- ^ "Julius Irvin 光 Naranjo