BY ELLA MARIE MERCADO
After bringing home the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal, Hidilyn Diaz shared plans of releasing a book with her team to inspire others to learn the “mindset of an Olympic champion.”
“Sabi ko, gagawa kami ng libro: Team HD: the Dream Team after kong manalo, to give inspirations sa mga bata, sa mga officials and everyone in the Philippines para malaman nila, ano ba mindset ng mga champion, Olympic champion,” the weightlifting sensation from Zamboanga City said.
Apart from the gold medal, she also set new Olympic records for the 55kg division for the Clean and Jerk at 127kg and by lifting a combined weight of 224kg.
Hidilyn started her journey in the Olympics at the 2008 Summer Olympics in South Korea, followed by the London Olympics in 2012 and onto the 2016 Rio Olympics where she snagged a silver medal in the women’s weightlifting event.
The elite athlete also expressed her curiosity in her team’s thoughts and opinions on training matters.
“Gusto ko rin malaman ‘ano nasa isip nila’? Kasi last na frustrated ako, sabi (nila) ‘Alam mo, Hids, okay lang ‘yan, masyadong mataas standard mo’ and ‘gano’n talaga, kaya ka nga Olympian, eh’,” she said in her recent vlog.
In the same vlog, Hidilyn also did a quick interview with her strength and conditioning coach, Julius Naranjo.
“I believed (in you), the moment you stood up, I knew you were gonna jerk it,” he shared.
Behind the scenes, the coach, who also stood by her side as her significant other, gave Hidilyn some words of to go by.
“We just build your confidence, like your physical strength is there but if you’re not confident then you can’t use it to your full potential,” the coach said.
Watch the full video below:
