Olympic champ Hidilyn Diaz: Faith, Focus, and a Great Team for the 2024 Paris Olympics
Olympic weightlifting champ Hidilyn Diaz came to New York on November 13, 2022 in transit to Atlanta for a training to the Bogota qualifier to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“We are in New York to be with our friends before going to a training. We must be adjusted to the cold weather and time difference,” she said in a presser at the Stand-up New York Comedy Club on the upper west side. The media event was sponsored by the FilAm Press Club of New York and anchored by yours truly and colleague friend Grace Labaguis.
Jetlagged but up and about.
Hidilyn Diaz with Grace Labaguis and this writer.
Hidilyn, who just landed a few hours at JFK, carefully obliged to answer our queries, despite a clearly haggard countenance.
The 4.11 ft. weightlifter felt that powerlifting was her calling at the tender age of 11 and pushed on – until she became the first woman Olympic champion for weightlifting in the Tokyo Summer Olympics. She won over China and Kazakhstan in the 55-kg. category in 2020.
Hidilyn revealed that she started practicing with Ipil-Ipil trees in her hometown Zamboanga. It was also her way to ward off bullying by her cousins and neighbors.
What’s paradoxical is that she became the first Filipino woman weightlifter Olympian despite the absence of a weightlifting program in the Philippines.
How did she do it? Hidilyn attributed her success to an amazing team led by coach husband Julius Naranjo, who dabbles as marketing director.
During the presser, Hidilyn’s faith preceded her. “When I lifted the weights, I manifested that God would make it,” she quipped rather sweetly. Her steadfast faith won her the Olympic medal, she said, other than the rigorous training and support she had from her team.
With Julius Naranjo, Hidilyn’s husband, coach, and manager
Equally challenged as Hidilyn is her coach-husband Julius who must raise funds to cover for the team’s expenses. “We are looking at PhP30 million in cost to pay for our trainers, psychologists, dietician, and support staff, transportation, food, logistics,” he revealed.
The toughest part in fund-raising, according to Julius, is that people only pitch in their support when the athlete wins. One must win first to be able to get substantial financial help, which is truly difficult.
FilAm Naranjo was born in Guam and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science with minor in Nutrition. His mother is Japanese and his father Filipino.
With faith and grit, Hidilyn and Julius and their team are bent to do the best they can to harvest another gold medal in 2024. #
UPDATE: HIDILYN DIAZ wins three golds at the Bogota Olympic qualifier (World Weightlifting Championships) on December 7, 2022. Her journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics begins!
