BURDEN LIFTED AFTER OLYMPICS: DIAZ HAS FORGIVEN PANELO

Weightlifting champion Hidilyn Diaz now believes her baseless inclusion in a “matrix” of people allegedly plotting President Duterte’s ouster in 2019 was just another heavy load she had to lift to clinch the country’s first Olympic gold.

On Sunday, Diaz said she had forgiven the people behind the matrix, especially chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo, who presented it to the media.

“As a Catholic and Christian, I have forgiven him. All I can say is everything happens for a reason,” she told Vice President Leni Robredo in her weekly radio show. “And now I have brought home a gold medal for the Philippines.”

Diaz is still in quarantine after arriving from Tokyo on July 30, four days after her sensational victory in the women’s 55-kilogram division.

She admitted that it took just as long to wrap her head around her new status: the country’s first Olympic gold medalist in 97 years, with a massive windfall that made her an instant multimillionaire.

“I have now accepted that I am a gold medalist,” Diaz said with a laugh. “I think I only just accepted it yesterday when I finally got some rest.

When I first won a silver medal (in the 2016 Rio Olympics), I thought I already knew what it felt like to be in so many interviews [and] activities. But I was still overwhelmed.”

“Now that I have the gold, I also see the responsibility after the glory,” she added.

Diaz was reminded of her humble beginnings growing up in Zamboanga, where she tried different sports—basketball, volleyball, softball— before settling on her true love, weightlifting.

She recalled that to train, she lifted cement weights and jeepney tire rims until the Universidad de Zamboanga gave her a scholarship.

But her route to victory was not always paved with gold. She lost in her first competitions: the 2004 Asia World Championship and 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

“At first, I was just happy to be competing at all, but as time went on, [I] told myself this losing streak can’t go on. I need to learn why I kept losing and to level up as an athlete and as a person,” she said.

A bronze medal finish at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games took her to her first Olympics the following year in Beijing.

In 2013, Diaz joined the Philippine Air Force not only for a stable career but to also become part of the national team.