Fellow Olympians, sports personalities hail golden girl Hidilyn Diaz
MANILA, Philippines – Weightlifting wonder Hidilyn Diaz is Philippine sports' golden girl — literally.
After Diaz broke the Philippines’ 94-year-old gold medal drought in the Olympics on Monday, the whole country became jubilant.
Among those who expressed their joy in Diaz's achievement were her fellow Philippine Olympians in Tokyo.
Pole vaulter EJ Obiena and pug Eumir Marcial congratulated their "Ate" for their historic gold, saying they were left speechless with her performance.
Rower Cris Nievarez, who ends his Tokyo Olympics journey today with the classification round, took to social media the moment the Philippine National Anthem was played for the very first time in the Olympics.
Skateboarder Margielyn Didal, who captivated fans with her positive attitude throughout her Olympic debut, also shared a congratulatory message on her Instagram stories, which included a photo of her and Diaz taken by her coach Caloy Sembrano.
For his part, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa deemed the weightlifter his "idol" and vowed to bring the same honor to the country in the future.
BALANG ARAW AKO DIN ??????????????
— KURT BARBOSA ? (@kurtesyyyyyy) July 26, 2021
Fil-Am swimmer Remedy Rule, who competes today in the 200m butterfly, posted a video of them watching the historic moment.
"First Olympic Gold for the Philippines. Laban Pilipinas," she wrote.
Diaz's fellow Olympic medalist Roel Velasco posted on social media as well. He won bronze in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics for boxing.
Local sports stars also came out to celebrate one of the biggest moments in Philippine sports history.
Diaz's fellow Benildean alumnus and wushu medalist Agatha Wong also greeted the 30-year-old on her feat.
In the world of volleyball, Aby Marano and Alyssa Valdez were among those who joined the celebrations.
Ito ang pinakamatagal na goosebumps ko @diaz_hidilyn GRABEEEE KAA!! ???????? #Olympics
— ???????????????????? ???????????? ???? (@Abymarano) July 26, 2021
HIDILYN DIAZ!!!!
— Alyssa Valdez (@AlyssaValdez2) July 26, 2021
Veteran hoops coaches Chot Reyes and Tim Cone also couldn't hold back their praise.
Let’s go Hidilyn! Laban Pilipinas ??!!!
— Chot Reyes (@coachot) July 26, 2021
Amazing Hidilyn, just amazing!! So PROUD!!
— Tim Cone (@manilacone) July 26, 2021
Basketball players like RR Pogoy, Chris Newsome, Kevin Alas, Terrence Romeo, and overseas-bound players Kiefer Ravena and Kai Sotto joined the fray as well.
This right here! Congrats Hidilyn! ???????????? https://t.co/a0kzlfruJJ
— Kai Sotto (@kzsottolive) July 26, 2021
I’m not crying, you’re crying. ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? https://t.co/N9ArjXulhH
— Kiefer Ravena (@kieferravena) July 26, 2021
Diaz ruled the women's 55kg weightlifting event, setting a new Olympic record of 224kg. She bested world champion Quiyun Liao of China for the gold by just 1kg.
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