Hidilyn Diaz, who won the Silver in the women’s 53-kg Weightlifting of the Rio Olympics is applauded by her countrymen shortly upon arrival Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in suburban Pasay city south of Manila, Philippines. The Olympic medal was the highest and the first for the Philippines in 20 years.(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
THE PHILIPPINE Sports Commission is going all out to prepare Hidilyn Diaz for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Its only cause of worry? Show business.
“My only worry is she might get a manager and begin a show biz career,” said PSC chair Butch Ramirez.
“I will hold Hidilyn responsible for the word spoken with me in the presence of the President [Duterte] that she will go to the [Tokyo] Olympics,” he added.
Ramirez said the Rio de Janeiro silver medalist will be accompanied in future international meets by a team composed of a physiologist, nutritionist and psychologist, among others, apart from her coach.
“We will take care of her and hopefully she doesn’t get injured until the next Olympics,” said Ramirez.
Diaz broke the country’s 20-year medal jinx in the Olympics after placing second in the women’s 53kg class in Rio.
Before Diaz’s feat, the last medal by the Philippines in the Summer Games was from boxer Onyok Velasco, who quit the sport after that and went on a show biz career as a comedian.
The 25-year-old Diaz, a three-time Olympian, earned a windfall of P5 million from the government for her feat plus additional million-peso cash bonuses from President Duterte, the Senate and House of Representatives.
“I will really interfere [if show business gets in the way]. Why? The government is spending for her needs to become a world-class athlete,” said Ramirez.
“We have a responsibility to watch over her. At any rate, it’s really Hidilyn’s call,” added Ramirez, who said the PSC will fully back Diaz’s bid for the gold in 2020.
“Based on her performance, she can win a gold in Tokyo,” said Ramirez.
Rio gold medalist Hsu Shu-ching of Chinese Taipei lifted a total of 212 kilograms, a weight Diaz can surpass on a good day.
She registered a personal best of 214kg in the 2015 Asian Championships in Thailand where she won the gold and carried 213kg in the world championships last year in Houston for the bronze medal.