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BEIJING—Hidilyn
Diaz stares you in the eyes, ponders a bit on a query
you throw at her, and again stares you in the eyes
before answering candidly with a charm and a smile
typical of the Filipino probinsyana.
She’s
17. She’s determined.
“Darating
ang araw aabutan ko rin sila,” said Diaz, the
country’s wild-card entry—and the only one—in the
Beijing Olympics’ weightlifting competitions Monday.
She did
just fine—and expected—in the women’s 58-kg division.
She finished second to last among 12 competitors, faring
better than a bet four years her senior, and definitely
more experienced, from the Solomon Islands.
Her
numbers—a national record 85 kg in the snatch and 107 kg
in the clean and jerk—paled in comparison with
back-to-back gold-medal winner Chen Yanging’s Olympic
records of 106 (snatch), 138 (clean and jerk) and 244
(total). But they’re good enough from someone who’s a
first-time Olympian just starting to reap the benefits
of being a soon-to-be-if-God-forbids celebrated athlete.
Weightlifting wasn’t in Diaz’s radar when she was
younger.
“Gusto
kong magtrabaho sa bangko,” she told the
BusinessMirror.
Perhaps,
the air-conditioning that is a constant of banks and the
seemingly smart and poised appearances of bank tellers
could have mesmerized the five-foot-one lifter.
“Gusto
ko kasi humawak ng maraming pera,” she said, rather
jokingly.
But it’s
not your money, the BusinessMirror reminded her.
“Okay
lang po, basta gusto ko lang magtrabaho sa bangko,”
she replied.
Weightlifting made her change her mind, and it changed
her life.
“Maraming
naitulong sa akin ang sports,” she intimated. “Magagandang
damit, uniforms, nakakapunta sa ibang bansa at
nakatungtong ako sa college.”
Because
of her potential that the Philippine Weightlifting
Association (PWA), headed by Bacolod Rep. Monico
Puentevella, easily noticed, Diaz earned a college
scholarship at the Unibersidad de Zamboanga. She is
currently a Computer Science freshman, but skipped the
first semester this year to focus on the Olympics. The
scholarship was courtesy of University president Arturo
Eustaquio, the former PWA president, and sports director
Elbert Atilano.
“Siguro,
kung hindi ako naging athlete, andun pa rin ako
sa amin [Mampang, Zamboanga City], aakyat ng puno
at kukuha ng prutas, at iigib ng tubig,” she said,
again staring the BusinessMirror in the eyes.
She was
11 when she took to weightlifting. Her uncle, Catalino
Diaz, was training a cousin, Allen Diaz, in a backyard
gym right next to their house in Mampang when she was
asked to join them. At first, she was instructed to feel
the flow of the snatch and the clean and jerk with a
wooden pole. When she had mastered the rhythm, she was
told to lift real weights.
Zamboanga is the Philippines’ hotbed of weightlifting.
The city has produced practically all of the country’s
top weightlifters, including the late strongman Jaime
Sebastian, Ramon Solis, to name a few. Diaz, Hidy to
friends, is the fifth in a brood of six. Her father
Eduardo earns a living as a tricycle driver, while her
mom is a housewife.
She
performed excellently in the 2002 Batang Pinoy in Puerto
Princesa where she was discovered for the national team.
And in so short a time, she has become, well,
well-traveled—the Asian Games in Chiang Mai, the Asian
Games in Doha and the Southeast Asian Games in Nakhon
Ratchasima, Thailand. She trained for months here in
China for the Olympics, and is expected to be back here
and stay here for a long time to prepare for the London
2012 Olympics.
“She
will be eating, sleeping and training with the world
champions,” said Philippine Sports Commission chairman
William Ramirez, who is enthusiastic about helping Diaz
to become a world beater.
So
what’s to stand Diaz’s way to an Olympic gold medal?
“Sana
hindi siya mag-asawa. She’ll be good for three more
Olympics,” said Puentevella.
Boys?
“Wala
ho, weightlifting muna. Sabi nga ng coach
ko [Solis], ‘pag 25 na raw ako mag-boyfriend,”
she quipped, of course with a sweet smile and a
probinsyana’s charm. |
