Olympian Hidilyn Diaz’s weakness? Kare-kare, lechon, sisig

It’s been a tough thirteen months for the country’s best weightlifter
Mar 21, 2021
PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

NO QUESTION about it: Hidilyn Diaz is strong.

As the country’s only Olympic silver medalist — currently hard at work training for this year’s Tokyo games — strength is what defines this weightlifter. But if there’s anything she has a weakness for, it’s food.

“Andami kong gusto,” she confessed during a roundtable with Summit Media editors.”Sana may kare-kare dito. Sarap nun.”

While she can cook dishes like nilagang baka and tinola, the peanut sauce-and-entrails dish is something that’s currently beyond her skillset, especially in Malaysia, where she’s been training for the past 13 months.

But kare-kare isn’t the only dish in Diaz’s food wishlist. She continued, her eyes already lighting up at the thought: “Lechon, sisig. Sarap. Sisig, masarap talaga. Yun siguro yung paborito ko, sisig.”

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    A few moments later, she amended herself with a laugh. “Dami kong paborito e.”

    The sinful temptation of her favorite meals has been something she’s been able to control during her lockdown training.

    “Malayo sa mga temptation ng pagkain,” she gratefully replied when asked how her training was going. “Kasi yun yung mga weakness ko.”

    She also admitted that, beyond the craving for food, the past 13 months — in a foreign country, in the middle of a pandemic, through the postponement of one of the biggest moments in sport, and through the uncertainty over pending competitions — have been really tough on her.

    “Emotionally, psychologically, grabe. Minsan gusto ko nang sumuko. Minsan, parang ayoko na,” she admitted. “Naging masyado akong emotional during this time. Andaming lockdown na nangyari.”

    She added, “Nung una, okay na, nakapag-training na, nakapag-adjust na. Kaya lang, di ako makapaniwala na na-move yung Olympics, tapos na-lockdown.”

    Couple that, too, with her long-distance classes, as she is still finishing up her Accounting degree at the College of St. Benilde.

    “Last year kasi parang, nape-pressure ka [na] sa training, nape-pressure ka rin sa Accounting," she said.

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    But as an athlete, she has already adapted to the dire situation, and is looking forward to her upcoming competitions in both Uzbekistan for the Olympic qualifiers, and, hopefully, after that, Tokyo.

    “As an athlete, kailangan namin mag-move on,” Diaz said. “We have to continue on our training kahit mahirap, kahit nasa sitwayson tayo ng pandemic ngayon. As an athlete we have to do our best in training and do our best in my competition, and do our best to represent our country.”

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    PHOTO: Jerome Ascano
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