Hidilyn Diaz, of the Philipines, wipes away tears after winning the silver medal in the women’s 53kg weightlifting competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
RIO DE JANEIRO—The new toast of Philippine sports touches down to a heroine’s welcome in Manila on Thursday, sad to have left her teammates behind but delighted to see her proud parents again.
Rio Olympics silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is going home to a grateful nation ready to heap her gifts of love and attention fit for a queen.
She bid her teammates goodbye during a thanksgiving dinner hosted by the Philippine Olympic Committee in this carnival city’s Botofogo district on Wednesday night before boarding a 2 a.m. Emirates flight to Dubai.
She is expected to arrive in Manila at about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday along with her coach Alfonso Aldanete, fellow lifter Nestor Colonia and POC second vice president Col. Jeff Tamayo.
“I’m excited to go home but sad that I’ll be leaving you behind. We have been like a big, loving family here,” said Diaz, tears welling in her eyes. “Good luck to all of you and continue our fight.”
The cheerful Zamboangueña snapped the country’s 20-year dry spell in the Olympics with a silver-medal finish in weightlifting’s 53-kilogram class Sunday.
Tycoon and sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan has arranged for Diaz’s parents, Emelita and Eduardo, to be flown to Manila from their hometown in Mampan, Zamboanga City, to welcome their daughter at Naia’s Terminal 3.
From there, Diaz will be brought to Resorts World-Manila where she will spend the night along with her small entourage. Pangilinan’s private plane will fly her and her parents to Zamboanga City in the morning.
Diaz said she had received word that President Duterte wanted to meet with her in Davao before Sunday, when her village celebrates the feast of its patron saint.
She was the first of the 13 Filipino athletes, many of whom have been here since July 23, to fly back home. Five have yet to see action in the Games following judoka Kodo Nakano’s first-round exit in the 81 kg class Tuesday and swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi’s stint in the heats of the women’s 100-meter freestyle event Wednesday.
Nakano, born to a Japanese father and his Filipino wife, spent only 79 seconds on the mat in bowing to reigning World Cup champion Matteo Marconcini by ippon, equivalent to a full point—judo’s most lopsided score.
A big disappointment in her first Olympics in London 2012, Alkhaldi said she expected to do better in the event this time with Southeast Asian Games nemesis Junkrajang Natthanan of Thailand landing in the same heat. The Filipino-Saudi pool mermaid wound up 34th among 50 entries in London with a time of 57.13 seconds, a far cry from her personal best of 55.94.
“I felt I was too young then, I felt like a baby in the water” said Alkhakdi, who trained in Hawaii under coach Jennifer Buffin. “I feel comfortable competing now.”
Yet to plunge into action are long jumper Marestella Torres-Sunang, hurdler Eric Cray, marathoner Mary Joy Tabal, golfer Miguel Tabuena and taekwondo-jin Kirstie Elaine Alora.
Tabuena tees it up in the first round of golf action on Aug. 11 at the Olympic links course, Tabal negotiates Rio’s relatively flat, 42-kilometer race course on Aug. 14 and Sunang and Cray open their bids in the preliminaries of their respective events at Maracana Stadium.
Alora is the last to see action when she competes in the first round of the +67 kg class against former Olympic champ Marie Espinoza of Mexico on Aug. 20 at Carioca Pavilion.
“We are still hopeful that anyone from among our five remaining athletes will spring a surprise,” said chief of mission Joey Romasanta. “They are all in high spirits after Hidilyn’s feat.”