WINNING the first gold medal for the country by Olympian Hidilyn Diaz couldn’t have come at a better time.

The country has been in the doldrums for months, coping with various stress being suffered by families caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The only seeming action-filled drama out there are news about politics and fearless forecasting about political personalities. Nothing can be more divisive for a country than politics.

Not even the State of the Nation Address helped unite a deeply polarized people, between the DDS and the Dilawans.

But the sweet victory in Olympics came from behind and the nation was united in claiming: Proud to be Pinoy! For this alone, Hidilyn won for the country more than just a gold medal but for our people being united in thoughts about their roots and citizenship, our standing in the world, about our abilities to succeed even in the face of huge and serious challenges confronting us.

Hidilyn’s narrative as a diminutive girl from a less a than comfortable family life in Zamboanga City hits families squarely in million homes. That “it can happen to her, it can happen to us!”

The euphoria about Hidilyn, the gold and the Olympics is worth keeping for decades, much like when Gloria Diaz became our first Miss Universe. When she was followed by Margie Moran, Pia Wurtzbach, and Catriona Gray, their titles were our confirmation of what our women are – beautiful with brains!

After Hidilyn, future Olympic gold medalists will be a confirmation of our people as resilient, hard-working, determined people that can stand side by side with people from powerful nations.

Let the euphoria last.

Olympic champion

HIDILYN Diaz is a story worthy of a Hollywood movie.  In winning the nation’s first Olympic gold medal after a 97-year wait with her magical weightlifting victory in the Tokyo Olympics, Hidilyn displayed determination, discipline and audacity.  She embraced the sport at age 9 by lifting water-filled plastic bottles by way of fetching water for her poverty-saddled family in the dregs of Zamboanga City. At 17, she was in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, embarrassingly finishing second-to-the-last.  Undaunted, she was back in the 2012 London Olympics, ending up a dismal DNF (Did Not Finish).  Defiant, she flew to the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil. This time, she won silver, becoming the first Filipina Olympic medalist since our first Olympics in 1924 in Paris.  Then on Monday, July 25, she finally captured the gold in Tokyo, beating the heavily-favored world champion from China.  Try and try until you succeed. That’s Hidilyn Diaz for you.

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