Julius Naranjo

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Takamura and the surname or paternal family name is Naranjo.
Julius Naranjo
Personal information
Full nameJulius Irvin Hikaru Takamura Naranjo
CitizenshipAmerican / Filipino
Born (1991-06-14) June 14, 1991 (age 33)
Tamuning, Guam, U.S.
EducationBachelor of Science Exercise Science and Health Promotions with a Minor in Nutrition from the University of Guam
ASCA Level 1
IWF Advanced Coaching Certificate Holder
Alma materFather Duenas Memorial School
Occupation(s)Weightlifter, coach, filmmaker
Spouse
​
(m. 2022)​
Sport
Country Guam
SportWeightlifting
Now coachingHidilyn Diaz

Julius Irvin Hikaru Takamura Naranjo (Tagalog pronunciation: [naˈɾanho]; 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 (and his wife) Hidilyn Diaz.

Early life and education

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Julius Irvin Hikaru Takamura 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

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Naranjo had represented Guam's National Weightlifting Team and is a record holder in the old 69 kg weight category.[1] He had represented Guam at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games[2] in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan competing in the 62 kg weight category.[3][4] A career-ending back injury forced Naranjo's retirement.[citation needed]

Coaching career

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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

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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

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Naranjo married his fiancée and the Philippines' first Olympic gold medalist, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, in a ceremony held at St. Ignatius Church in the Philippine Military Academy grounds, Baguio, Philippines, on July 26, 2022, exactly a year after the latter's historic gold medal win in the 2020 Summer Olympics.[17][18][19][20]

Then engaged,[21] 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.[22] They were also featured on Sports U[23] and Magandang Buhay[24] 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.[25]

References

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  1. ^ Tomas, Jojo Santo (18 September 2017). "Meet Guam's Team for the Asian Indoor Games: Weightlifting". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  2. ^ Post, Matt Weiss (21 September 2017). "Guam posts mixed results in Asian Indoor Games". The Guam Daily Post. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  3. ^ "Athletes - International Weightlifting FederationInternational Weightlifting Federation". www.iwf.net. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  4. ^ "Julius Naranjo represents Guam in Asian Indoor Games". guampdn.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  5. ^ ""I will remain focused and determined" - Hidilyn Diaz' powerful message to the Philippines". Olympic Channel. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  6. ^ Solon, Pio (2020-04-18). "Solon: How an elite athlete trains through the ECQ". Sunstar. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  7. ^ "Tokyo Olympics officially postponed until 2021". ESPN.com. 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  8. ^ "Hidilyn Diaz gets timely MVPSF financial aid to boost Olympic bid". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  9. ^ "Julius Irvin 光 Naranjo 🇬🇺 (@imjulius) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  10. ^ "About Us – Collective Culture". collective-culture.co. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  11. ^ STATUS: SINGLE - Docomo Pacific Valentines' 2018, retrieved 2020-08-09
  12. ^ Move to Inspire: Sacrifices, retrieved 2020-08-09
  13. ^ Move to Inspire: For The Love, retrieved 2020-08-09
  14. ^ Lifters For Lifters, retrieved 2020-08-09
  15. ^ HIDILYN DIAZ, MULING NAGBIGAY KARANGALAN SA PILIPINAS, retrieved 2020-08-09
  16. ^ TFC O THE FILIPINO CHANNEL, TULOY ANG SERBISYO KAHIT PRANGKISA NG ABS-CBN, HINDI NA-RENEW, retrieved 2020-08-09
  17. ^ "Hidilyn Diaz marries boyfriend coach on anniversary of Olympic win". ABS-CBN News. July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  18. ^ Isaga, JR (July 26, 2022). "LOOK: #TheWeightIsOver as Hidilyn Diaz weds coach Julius Naranjo". Rappler. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  19. ^ Tunac, Hermes Joy (July 26, 2022). "Hidilyn Diaz and Julius Naranjo are married!". GMA News. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  20. ^ "#TheWeightIsOver: Hidilyn Diaz, Julius Naranjo get married on Olympic gold anniv". CNN Philippines. July 26, 2022. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  21. ^ "'Magical moment': Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz now engaged to boyfriend, coach Julius Naranjo". ABS-CBN News. 2021-10-16. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  22. ^ "Weighlifting golden girl Hidilyn Diaz also wins at love". GMA News Online. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  23. ^ "Sports U: Kapwa weightlifter nabihag ang puso ni Olympian Hidilyn Diaz". ABS-CBN News. 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  24. ^ "Julius feels giddy about Hidilyn's mention of having a baby | Magandang Buhay - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  25. ^ "Hidilyn's coach, BF thanks Filipino community for supporting 'Team HD". GMANetwork.com. 2021-07-26. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
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Julius Naranjo at the International Weightlifting Federation

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