Hidilyn Diaz on winning historic Olympic gold: 'My win didn't come easily'

Hidilyn Diaz remains in disbelief a day after winning the Philippines' first-ever gold medal at the Olympics.

"Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na nanalo ako ng gold, hanggang ngayon
sobrang thankful ako," she told Filipino journalists during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.

"Hindi madali ang pagkapanalo ko ng gold medal," she added.

["I still can't believe that I won gold, until now I'm very thankful.

My win didn't come easily."]

Diaz said her journey since her first Olympic win — in Rio Olympics 2016, where she clinched silver — up to this historic moment was fraught with challenges.

For one, she had to face many people's doubts that she could bag gold.

"Noong una, 'di sila naniniwala na kaya kong manalo. Along the way, sinuportahan ako," she said.

["At first, they didn't believe that I could win. Along the way, I gained support."]

Another challenge was that she had to stop school completely in order to focus on training.

"I gave up everything because I knew I had the chance to win the Olympics," she said.

However, she said her struggles were eased by the people behind her who continued to support her.

Diaz said her feat made her realize that nothing is impossible.

"Marami tayong pinagdadaanan ngayon dahil sa pandemic, pero tignan niyo. Na-survive ko, na-survive ng Pilipinas, ng Philippine Team. Nagawa natin, kahit na sabihing nasa pandemic at risky, pero naiuwi natin ang medalya. Walang imposible," she said, addressing her countrymen.

["We are going through a lot because of the pandemic, but look, I survived, the Philippine team survived. We made it, even though there's a pandemic and it's risky, we brought home the medal. Nothing is impossible."]

Diaz won the country's first-ever gold medal in the Olympics after winning the women's 55-kg weightlifting event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Monday at the Tokyo International Forum.

She finished with a total score 224 kg, lifting 97 in the snatch and 127 in the clean & jerk to outduel China's Liao Qiuyun for the gold.

In the same presscon, Diaz revealed that this was her first time to successfully lift 127 kilos, having repeatedly failed to pull it off in training.

Her historic win ended a near century-long Olympic gold medal drought since the Philippines first competed in the games in 1924. —JCB, GMA News