Hidilyn Diaz

“I am merely doing my best to represent the Philippines in weightlifting.”

“We are not rich and my family depended on me.”

“I am looking more at being a sports leader someday to have more influence with the youth and to hopefully spread weightlifting across the country.”

“I just tell myself to focus on the technique, focus on the work ahead.”

“For me, even if there's an audience or not, I'm happy.”

“There are many roles of a coach. You will be the parent and will take responsibility over the athlete.”

“In sports, you always want to improve. You don't stop until you reach your peak.”

“I think it's a great accomplishment. Qualifying for the Olympics once is already hard enough now I'm about to compete in my fourth, especially now that we are in the middle of the pandemic.”

“When it comes to competition, I am really focused.”

“I have to continue until there's another Filipino following in my footsteps.”

“The Asian Championships are like the Olympics because the top 6 or top 8 are already here.”

“There's no weightlifting event in Palaro, that's why I'm going here, hoping they consider including weightlifting again.”

“Through sports, you can reach for your dreams.”

“I'm close to the Olympics. I want to snatch 100kg, but I need to master more techniques in order to do that. But I know I am capable of doing it.”

“The sacrifices you make are so hard when you're training every day.”

“I have stumbled many times.”

“I'm happy to see that more girls are going into weightlifting and aiming to become Olympic medalists as well.”

“I'm the breadwinner in my family.”

“I have achieved something in sports but there's nothing like a college degree.”

“I sacrificed a lot. I wasn't able to be with my mother and father for how many months and years and then of course, training was excruciating.”