LIFE has changed for Olympic silver medallist Hidilyn Diaz.
The 25-year-old Diaz said many things in her life changed five months after she earned a silver medal in the 53-kg division of the women’s weightlifting competitions of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
“Nakapag-adjust na rin ako sa mga pagbabago sa buhay ko,” said Diaz during the Christmas party she attended with fellow national athletes.
Hidilyn has accepted a scholarship offer from the College of St. Benilde, through the help of another Olympian, La Salle alumnus Stephen Fernandez, who reached out to her through the Philippine Olympian Association. Fernandez is best remembered for his bronze medal in the demonstration sport of taekwondo at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
“Mag-aaral ako. Tatapusin ko ito,” said Hidilyn, who has enrolled in the school’s business management evening classes.
Diaz formally accepted the offer when she and her parents showed up at the La Salle-University of Santo Tomas game of the 79th University Athletic Association of the Philippines to watch and cheer the Green Archers on.
Going back to school, according to Diaz will help her get a clearer view of how she will chart her life in the next four years on her journey to compete again in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Sa gabi ako mag-aral. Sa umaga, gusto ko mag-focus sa training,” said Diaz.
Plans to teach kids who want to learn the sport and her training for many international meets are also in the pipeline.
“Maraming competitions, tapos magkakaroon pa ako ng mga clinics,” remarked Hidilyn.
Most of her training usually takes place at the weightlifting center of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Vito Cruz, just a stone’s throw away from her would-be school.
Blessings
Many blessings have come her way following her silver-medal feat in the Olympics.
Aside from her scholarship offer, a businessman has offered her a property at the Deca Clark Resorts in Bgy. Margot in Angeles, Pampanga.
Her new home was put in a street which was eventually named after her. The house became a gift to her parents.
Diaz has earned more than P7 million from her silver-medal feat in the Olympics, P5 million of which was her incentive as provided by law. The rest came from President Rodrigo Durterte.
After that, a power generating company, Alsons, has come forward to provide varsity scholarships to her and a number of athletes working out at the small training gym inside their family residence at Bgy. Mampang in Zamboanga City.
Diaz won’t spend much in sprucing up the property as the company promised to also take care of home improvements.
What’s in store in 2017
For now, Diaz is set to compete in next year’s World Weightlifting Championship in Anaheim, California.
It will be Diaz’s third time to join the tournament organized by the International Weightlifting Federation.
The first was in Paris, France in 2011, when she finished sixth. The second was in Houston, Texas last year, when she won the bronze medals in the snatch (96kg), clean and jerk (117kg) and total (213kg) events in the women’s 53kg division.
Diaz’s performance in Houston, the venue of a qualifying tournament in 2015, helped her qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. It turned out also that her Houston sojourn prepared her well for the Olympics.
She also won three golds at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Phuket, Thailand last year.
Diaz will focus on preparing for the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia as the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur is now out of her plans since organizers have deleted many women’s events from the calendar.
Both the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Weightlifting Association are extending full support to the Zamboangueña’s bid to qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
Diaz initially said that the Rio games were to be her last Olympic stint, only to have a change of heart.
“Isang laban pa. Sino ba naman ako para tumalikod sa bayan?,” Diaz asked.
(For ending the Philippines’ 20-year medal drought in the Olympics, Hidilyn Diaz is Manila Standard’s 2016 Athlete of the Year)