Hidilyn Diaz: Where credit is due

The rush is on to bask in the reflected glory of Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz’s glory. The STAR learned that there was a mad rush by corporate sponsors to “appropriate” the 25-year old weightlifter once her flight from Brazil landed Thursday afternoon. Fortunately, the Philippine Sports Commission rightfully put all the glory-grabbing in its rightful place, and warmly received the three-time Olympian and gave a proper press conference. With smooth efficiency, the agency prepared the incentive check of P5 milion (not just a giant cardboard replica) and presented it to Diaz and her family in the presence of Philippine Weightlifting Association (PWA) officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. 

From what The STAR has also discovered, it was truly both the PWA and the PSC that first started the Zamboangueña on her road to the Olympics. In 2007, when Hidilyn was 16, she was introduced to then-PSC chair Butch Ramirez. The PWA was concerned about recruiting Diaz because of her youth. But Ramirez realized her potential even then, and housed her with other Philippine athletes, gave her an allowance, and sent her to Guangxi in China, as other Filipino athletes trained in other sports in nearby provinces. The faith in the teenager soon paid off. That year, she shattered the Philippine record in the Southeast Asian Games in Nakhon Rachasima in Thailand, and was still competing in the under 58-kilogram class.

In 2008, she was the youngest competitor in the Olympic Games, and only the second Filipino after her own coach, legendary Ramon Solis, who brought home over a dozen gold medals from various SEA Games throughout his career. She proceeded to break her own record, and was praised for her potential in a very strong field. 

“This is why we have to be patient,” says PSC chair Ramirez, whom Diaz once called her ‘lucky charm’. “After all that Olympic experience, Hidilyn was raised and at home in that environment. No more nervousness. That’s why she gave such a performance.”

Diaz was overwhelmed by the attention she received, as well-wishers and media were banging bodies to see her and take photos and video upon her arrival. She is the first Filipino athlete to win an Olympic medal since Onyok Velasco’s controversial silver medal in boxing in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. This is why one sponsor wanted to take her in their corporate jet for their own press conference upon her arrival. But the PSC wanted to be the first to congratulate the athlete it has been supporting for the past decade. The PSC likewise expressed its wish that Velasco receives all the incentives and other monies promised to him by politicians when he first returned from Atlanta? Velasco once told this writer that he had a collection of oversized checks that he could never encash, since they were never accompanied by the real thing.

Diaz is the first Filipina to win an Olympic medal for the country. In London in 1948, Victoria Manalo won gold in both the springboard and platform diving events. Manalo, born of a Filipino father and English mother, overcame racism, poverty and sexism to become the first Asian-American double Olympic gold medalist. Her parents migrated from the Philippine to the US. Like Diaz, Manalo likewise went through a very challenging climb to prominence.

When Manalo was 17, she tried to join the Fairmont Hotel Swim Club in San Francisco, but was denied because of her Filipino surname. She was encouraged to change her name to Taylor, her mother’s maiden name, and reluctantly agreed to gain entry. She never knew how her father felt about the name change. Soon, she was beating the field in AAU competition. At 19, she met her coach, Lyle Draves, and eventually married him, assuming his last name, and became known as Vicki Draves. She originally wanted to be a ballerina, but her family couldn’t afford it.

The Olympics were suspended due to World War II, and resumed in 1948. Trailing a teammate in the three-meter springboard final, Draves, shaking with nervousness before each attempt, overcame the odds and won the gold medal. She and male diver Sammy Lee (a Korean-American), became the first Asian-American gold medalists in the Olympics. Draves followed up the win with another gold in the 10-meter platform event. Eventually, she inspired and later coached a teammate, Patricia McCormick, to not only replicate her record, but to do it twice, in 1952 and 1956. So technically, Vicki Draves gave the US six Olympic gold medals.

In 2020, Diaz will get another chance to win an Olympic gold medal. Her steady progression is likewise an inspiring story of overcoming adversity and discouragement, negativity and difficulty. In a way, she is a metaphor for the Filipino athlete, competing in a sport where only the bare bones of courage, determination, will and God-given natural ability are needed. No fancy equipment, only you and the weight. You either lift the weight or don’t. You either get to control something bigger than yourself, or don’t. But then, you only need to carry the weight of the world for a moment, and then the world is yours. And Hidilyn Diaz still has many golden moments ahead of her.