ON February 20, Rio Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz will be celebrating not only her 30th birthday but also one full year of stay in what she now considers her second home—Malacca in Malaysia.
Diaz and her team arrived in Malacca 10 months ago to set up training camp for the Zamboanguena’s bid to qualify for Tokyo 2020 for what could be her fourth straight Olympics since Beijing 2008 when she was an unassuming 18-year-old.
But Covid-19 pandemic struck and the world stood still and Team Diaz found themselves stranded in Malaysia.
No worries for Diaz, her strength and conditioning Coach Julius Naranjo and Chinese Coach Kaiwan Gao though as the Malaysian government welcomed the team with open arms and gave them yearlong visas that expires, yes, on the Olympian’s birthday.
“They [Malaysian government] gave us a one-year long visa and they treat us like a family here,” Diaz told BusinessMirror on Friday. “They treat us like their own and they let us train in their training center when I have no place to train.”
Diaz will formally claim her ticket to Tokyo in the world championships Tashkent is hosting from April 15 to 25. All she needs is to step on the competition ramp, lift the barbell and officially claim a slot to the Olympics.
The Tashkent worlds will be Diaz’s sixth International Weightlifting Federation-sanctioned tournament, the minimum requirement for a weightlifter to qualify for Tokyo—for as long as you are in the world’s top 8 in your weight class.
“They [Malaysian government] find ways to help me and my coaches,” she said. “There’s no competition here, we’re a family here.”
Diaz said that she has enjoyed Malacca since.
“It was just supposed to be an isolation training here in Malaysia,” she said. “We never expected to stay here for too long.”
Naranjo said they have learned to enjoy the Malaysian community.
“We are treated like a true member of their family,” he said. “We are adjusting to whatever happens and that’s best for Hidilyn and her core team.”
If she’s not lifting steel, Diaz cooks Filipino dishes like adobo and tinolang manok. They learned to love Halal food but they manage to savor pork at least once a week.
“Once a week, we eat pork in a Chinese restaurant,” said Diaz, who undergoes eight to nine training sessions a week and also attends online classes.