HIDILYN Diaz, the weightlifter from Zamboanga with the iron will and indomitable spirit, was named SPIN.ph Sportsman of the Year for a fourth time on Saturday.
Diaz was also the first to win the award in successive years since SPIN.ph first started handing out the honor a decade ago.
The 31-year old got the nod of the men and women making up the country's first full-staff, standalone sports website after a sweep of the three gold medals in the 55-kg division of the IWF World Weightlifting Championship in Bogota, Colombia in December.
[READ: Hidilyn completes hat-trick of gold medals at world championships]
"Malaki pong karangalan," said Diaz, who won her first SOTY in 2016 after ending an Olympic medal drought for the Philippines with a silver at the Rio Olympics, her second in 2018 after a gold at the Asian Games, and her third just last year after ending the Philippines' 97-year wait for a first Olympic gold medal.
The outpoken weightlifter got the nod over two other trail blazers in EJ Obiena, who capped an eventful 2022 by winning a pole-vault bronze at the world championships, and Caloy Yulo, who won five SEA Games gold medals, three more gold medals at the Asian Championships, and a silver and bronze at the world championships.
Yulo and Obiena were named the SPIN History Makers of the Year along with tennis ace Alex Eala, who made history by winning a grand slam girls' title at the US Open.
The other winners for the year are the Filipinas (Philipine women's football team) as SPIN Team of the Year, PBA MVP Scottie Thompson as Game Changer of the Year, PWNT team manager Jeff Cheng as Executive of the Year, OhMyV33nus and Wise as Esports Athletes of the Year, Smart Omega CODM as Breakthrough Athletes of the Year, PBA Motoclub, Mavs Phenomenal, Spike and Serve Philippines, and Mindanao Peace Games as SPIN's Sportsmen Who Care, Sibol as Esports Team of the Year, and Goldwin Monteverde as Coach of the Year.
Diaz made it look easy in Bogota, but actually it wasn't. The whole 2022 was a crucial transition phase for Hidilyn and Team HD as she got married to erstwhile strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo who later took over the head-coaching job from Chinese mentor Gao Kaiwen.
Aside from that, Hidilyn, a Business Management student at College of St. Benilde, also had to make her thesis defense during the year, forcing her to skip the Asian Championships along the way.
Hidilyn also had to overcome a 'medical condition' that hit her three weeks before the world championships.
WATCH:
At the rate she's going, Hidilyn is far from done.
This early, Team HD has carefully laid down plans for her qualifying campaign for the Paris Olympics, where she will be looking to become a double gold medalist but in a heavier weight class at 59 kgs.
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