By Jessica Luna and Jonas Ryan Nitura
From helping her mother sell kwek-kwek (deep fried hard-boiled egg in flour), to competing in sports’ grandest stage, skateboarder Margielyn Ardan Didal sure has come a long way.
Didal burst into the Philippine sporting scene when she won the skateboarding gold in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.
Life was never the same for Margielyn since then, following a P6-million cash windfall from the government and a deluge of sponsorships.
Her mother also stopped selling kwek-kwek.
But as an athlete, Didal never stopped becoming the best version of herself, training five to six hours a day, almost everyday of the week.
Back then in Palembang, where she fashioned her most important win yet of a young career, she declared to embark on a mission of qualifying for Tokyo Olympics, which will debut skateboarding as a medal sport.
Half of that mission is now fulfilled as Margielyn qualified for the Tokyo Olympics that will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The other half? It’s winning it all.
Beginnings
Margielyn started skateboarding in 2012, just around the time when she helped her mother sell street food like tempura and kwek kwek in front of a church to make a living.
She did not yet have her own skateboard back then so she had to wait in line to borrow one just to try the sport. Didal then started competing in the local scene, but most of the time she would join the men’s division because there were a few women skaters and even fewer women’s skateboarding events.
Back in 2014, she had an injury in her collarbone and stopped competing for at least three months, but credited her girlfriend for motivating her to go back and compete again.
She quit school to pursue her dreams of helping her family get all the support they need to have a better life. Now she is one of the best female street skateboarders — in the world.
Winning time
She followed up her Asian Games triumph, with yet another gold medal in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games as she finished ahead of fellow Filipina Christina Means.
In 2021, she competed at the Street Skateboarding World Championships in Rome Italy, but only reached the semifinals and placed 17th with 19.00 points both in the qualifiers and semis as only the Top 8 skateboarders advanced to the finals.
Her road to the Olympic scene was not an easy one as she had to work her way up the rankings in the Olympic World Skateboarding in the female division, where she is ranked 17th on the street discipline.
Because of the pandemic, there were cancellations of many events in the country and abroad.
“Nag-struggle ako to compete for the Olympics. Many events got cancelled. So we’re just in our hometown, and without a park. And I did not skate for months because of the lockdown,” said Didal, who however coped with the pandemic by taking part and winning a virtual tournament in the women’s division of the Asian Skateboarding Championships 2020 Lockdown 5 Video Competition.
Soon after, the Philippine Sports Commission, through commissioner Ramon Fernandez was among those who initially came in to help Didal look for areas where she can do her workouts.
With the help of Red Bull, Didal said it became possible for her to stay in shape and get ready for the World Street Skateboarding Championships in Rome, Italy. The skatepark that Didal now trains in was funded by Red Bull, which provided additional input on the park’s structure.
Didal formally earned a qualifying slot to the Tokyo Olympics after she joined the women’s event of the World Street Skateboarding Championships in Rome, Italy.
Situated at no. 17 in the Olympic rankings, Didal made the cut after organizers struck out three Brazilians from the list, which had six skateboarders from the South American country.
Brazil’s Pamela Rosa (no. 1) and Rayssa Leal (no. 2) and Leticia Bufoni (no. 4), made the grade, but their teammates Virginia Aguas, Gabriela Mazzeto and Isabelly Dasilva did not as each member nation can only obtain a maximum of three spots in each event, with 12 maximum across the 4 events.
This same rule was applied on Japan, which has already three qualifiers in Nishimura, Funa Nakayama and Momiji Nishiya, prompting organizers to remove from the list Yumeka Oda.
Didal is the only skateboarder from Southeast Asia to make the grade.
The women’s division for the street event will be on July 26 from 9 am to 1:55 pm at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.