GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Academy garnered its first gold medal in the Batang Pinoy 2025 on Monday.
Stephanie Mandigma of Jala Jala, Rizal dominated the girls’ 40kg division with a lift of 113, winning the title by eight kilograms in a big turnaround from her disappointing performance at the
Just last May, the 14-year-old Mandigma, even with her unique qualities of strength and height of 144 centimetres (or 4-foot-8), could only come up with a fourth-medal finish in the same weight category at the Palaro.
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HD Weightlifting Academy coach Julius Naranjo revealed the biggest reason for Mandigma’s immense improvement in so short of a time – more training, less cellphone use.
“Before she got to Palaro, she just got a new phone. Before that, she didn’t have a phone,” said Naranjo. “When she got a cellphone, that’s where she realized na ‘yun na pala kasi, 'Puro cellphone ako.' When she’s in the house, na-distract.”
“And there are studies that have shown that cellphone use before training, it has a pretty substantial decrease in results sa training. I told them, please limit your cellphone [time]. I don’t care if you [use your] cellphone after training. At least you prioritize your sleep, you prioritize your food, and you prioritize your studies,” said Naranjo.
Realizing her mistake, Mandigma made sure to learn from the missed podium at the Palaro.
"From that down time, I said cry. Just cry. Let it out. You need to cry. Why? Because you know you trained and you worked so hard for this. It didn’t go according to plan. I told her I said ‘Look, now you know what’s the problem.’”
Things started to turn around for Mandigma when she also won at the National Weightlifting Championship in Dumaguete last June before capturing her first-ever gold medal at the Batang Pinoy months after.
“Medyo na-pressured pero I’m expecting ‘yung gold medal kasi pang-second ko na Batang Pinoy,” said a confident Mandigma, the bronze medalist in the same event in last year’s Batang Pinoy in Puerto Princesa.
“Medyo pressure din kasi may sakit din po ‘yung (right arm) ko kaya hindi ko po alam kung malilift ko. Nag-believe lang po ako sa trust ni coach, kay God at sa sarili ko na alam ko na makukuha ko.”
The Grade 8 student from Jala-Jala National High School said it is important for her to stay strong mentally during training and competition.
“Iniisip ko lang po na positive mindset na nakukuha ko ‘to. ‘Yung mindset ko talaga ‘yung tinututukan ko. Mahina po kasi minsan ‘yung mindset ko. Kapag kunwari hindi ko na-lift ‘yung barbell, nakaka-affect sa mental health,” said Mandigma.
Naranjo said Mandigma’s recovery from the Palaro disappointment to Batang Pinoy gold is proof that everything happens for a reason.
“Kanina, I said ‘God’s plan.’ God granted her a gold,” said Naranjo. “She works very hard. She started from scratch, just a year and a half, and now, she won by eight kilos. Her dedication and the relationship that we built from athlete and coach, that’s the most important.
"A lot of it is not even the physical part. The physical part is easy to build. The mental part is the hardest for me as a coach. I said, ‘Look, sacrifice na lang ‘yung short-term happiness kasi ‘yung long-term happiness is more important.”
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