MARGIELYN DIDAL is back home in Cebu City on Friday to reunite with her family that she hasn’t seen for two-and-a-half months as she campaigned—and succeeded—in the US and Italy for her qualification for skateboarding that makes its Olympic debut in July in Tokyo.
“It’s about family…because we’re Filipinos, a family-oriented nation,” Didal told BusinessMirror aboard a King Air beechcraft 10-seater plane commissioned by Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino to fly the gold medal hopeful to Cebu.
“I wanted to go home because I miss them so much, I wanted to see them,” added the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games and 2019 Southeast Asian Games street gold medalist.
Skateboarding and Roller Sports Association of the Philippines President Carl Sambrano and coach Daniel Bautista, as well as POC legal committee chairman Atty. Wharton Chan accompanied Didal and Tolentino to Cebu.
They then motored to Didal’s home in Barangay Lahug for an emotional reunion with her dad Julito “Tolits,” mom Juliana and her two brothers and two sisters.
Didal vied in Olympic qualifying tournaments at the Iowa Dew Tour in the US in May and at the Street Skateboarding Championships in Rome early this month. She qualified for Tokyo by virtue of her No. 13 world ranking in skateboarding’s street, making the top 16 cutoff.
“I hope to bring home a medal,” said Didal, who had to be hotel quarantined for 14 days upon her arrival from Italy. “I’ll just do my best.”
“I know how much Margie [Didal] wanted to be with her family and the satisfaction it will give her before going to the Olympics. We just exerted all efforts to make it happen,” Tolentino said. “It will boost her confidence to capture the country’s first Olympic gold medal.”
Didal, however, will be home for only 11 days. She will fly to Sta. Monica and Los Angeles on July 1 to train.
She will fly to Japan on July 18, giving her a week to train under Tokyo conditions for her July 24 competition.