AS WE celebrate Hidilyn Diaz's historic first Olympic gold medal for the country, let us not forget what it took for her to get to that podium.
As recently as half a year ago, under a pandemic lockdown and with little access to good equipment, Hidilyn Diaz had to improvise.
To train, the 30-year-old female weightlifter had to turn to broomsticks found in the house, ordinary resistance bands, and gym bags stuffed with heavy objects to put a barbell together.
She was gunning for the 2020 Olympics — which is still called that, despite opening in 2021 — the Holy Grail of sports, the one prize that every athlete wants, the one event whose gold medal she wanted to get to give to her country, after giving it a silver medal from the 2016 Olympics.
Yet here she was. Everything she had to work with was pretty rudimentary.
Weightlifting news page BarBend Strength Sports News documented one such training effort, uploading a video on Instagram on December 4, 2020.
“Sometimes, when you can’t make it to the gym, you’ve gotta make do with what you have,” the publication said for Hidilyn. “Rio Olympic Silver Medalist finding a way to keep the legs strong during lockdown.”
For the feature, Diaz had a simple comment: “Thank you.”
Then Monday night, July 26, she made history by clinching the Philippines’ first-ever gold in the Olympics, after denying the medal to China’s world champion, in the Women’s 55kg category in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
She also posted two new Olympic records.
Hidilyn Diaz had to appeal for financial help
In June 2019, through social media, Diaz sent out a plea for financial support.
“Is it okay to ask sponsorship sa mga private companies towards Tokyo 2020? Hirap na hirap na ako. I need financial support. Sa tingin niyo okay lang kaya? Nahihiya kasi ako pero try ko kapalan mukha ko para sa minimithi kong pangarap para sa ating bansa na maiuwi ang Gold Medal sa Olympics,” she posted on an Instagram story.
Clearly, it was a timid plea from a woman not given to begging. But, it seems, it still did not sit well with people at the top who saw it as public criticism from a popular athlete.
That same year, an election year, Diaz was included — to her shock — in a so-called “Oust Duterte” matrix presented by presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo and presidential communications secretary Martin Andanar.
The matrix, presented as a diagram, was laid out by Panelo as "intelligence information" received by Malacanang Palace about a "deliberate conspiracy between certain groups to discredit this administration."
In the matrix were then-senatorial candidate Florin Hilbay, ex-presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, broadcast journalist Gretchen Ho... and Hidilyn Diaz.
In an interview with GMA-7, the obviously troubled weightlifter said, "I am concerned for my security as well as that of my parents."
Addressing the allegations on social media, Hidilyn said in a tweet, "Dami ko pang goals sa life and Pinas para sumali sa ganyan bagay."
Apparently, the greater public believed her. There was nothing of the rabble-rouser, after all, in the simple probinsiyana’s history.
Days later, Panelo backtracked. Clarifying his previous presentation, he said that the matrix's diagram was intended to present "other accounts Mr. Jayme is actively following, to visualize his character, as well as his political and social interests." The heretofore unknown Rodel Jayme is a name the spokesperson provided.
However, Panelo fell short of apologizing for putting Diaz’s name on a list that only he and Andanar seemed to know about.
In an interview with the press yesterday, right after her gold medal win, Diaz alluded to that period in her life as a hurdle she needed to overcome.
"Sa totoo lang, ang dami kong pinagdaanan. Ang hirap mag-sustain ... tapos nagkaroon ng matrix, di ba, parang..." she said, her voice trailing off.
But that period is quite possibly history now, drowned out by the loud and deep messages of support from across the political spectrum in a nation where an Olympic gold medalist is the closest thing to a local god.
Starting from crude, homemade barbells, Hidilyn Diaz is here.
For more on Hidilyn Diaz, check out SPIN.ph's coverage below:
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
