Pure adrenaline for Margie

TOKYO – Skateboarder Margielyn Didal didn’t bring home a medal from the Olympics but she won the hearts of everyone who witnessed the debut of the X-sport in the Summer Games at the Ariake Urban Park. Skate Pilipinas vice president for international affairs Anthony Claravall called her the crowd favorite as she displayed spunk, guts and grit while enduring spills, brushing off the pain and doing unimaginable tricks under duress.

“She was always smiling and I’m sure, millions of fans watching on TV enjoyed her performance,” said Claravall who’s been involved in skateboarding as a filmmaker, photographer and coach for over 20 years. “What you like about Margie is that every time she steps on the board, she improves. She’s an amazing athlete. The federation has a lot of plans for her. After quarantine, she went home to Cebu to decompress with her family. Then, she’ll get ready for a Paris competition and the start of the US street league this month. Only the top 20 skaters in the world are invited to the street league with stops in Salt Lake City and Miami. There’s also Barcelona in September. We’re looking forward to the Indoor Asian Games in Thailand and the Asian Games in China.”

Didal, 23, caught Claravall’s attention during a Cebu gig 10 years ago but it wasn’t until 2016 when she was brought in to join the New Balance skate team.

Claravall, a Filipino born in New York, heads New Balance Numeric in Asia and is always on the lookout for talent to promote the sport. He’s showcased Didal’s skills all over the world – in London, Barcelona, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the US performing in live appearances, videos, demos and media platforms that reach out to an increasing population of New Generation followers.

“Before Tokyo, our first goal was to qualify for the Olympics,” said Claravall on PlayItRight TV. “Our second goal was to reach the final. We did both. Our third goal was to podium. We didn’t quite make it but it was still a victory for Margie and the sport because of how she engaged the global media audience.”

Claravall said it was pure adrenaline that drove Didal in the final. “She wasn’t 100 percent,” he revealed. “Her ankles and knees were banged up during the preliminaries. But she didn’t quit. She competed despite the pain. She badly wanted to be in the final.” When it was all over, an MRI confirmed both her ankles were inflamed. So it was no surprise that she was in a wheelchair coming off the plane that brought her back to Manila from Tokyo.

Claravall said while the top three finishers were in their early teens, the sport doesn’t cater only to the young. Take, for example, fourth placer Alexis Sabone who’s 34. Sabone was the last skateboarder to make the cut of eight for the final but wound up fourth in the end. Didal was seventh of 20 starters in the qualifiers and later finished seventh in the final. Gold medalist Momiji Nishiya and silver medalist Rayssa Leal are both 13. Bronze medalist Funa Nakayama is 16. Of the eight finalists, five were from Asia – three from Japan and one each from China and the Philippines. At the 2018 Asian Games where Didal won the skateboarding gold, none of the three Japanese finalists competed. China’s Zeng Wenhui, who was sixth in the Olympics, claimed fourth place. Another Chinese Hui Zixuan was fifth. Didal will face the challenge of the Japanese brigade in the next Asian Games.