Hidilyn Diaz. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Consider it a culmination of a year-long vow.
Hidilyn Diaz’s dream of being named as the Athlete of the Year finally came true when the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) bestowed her the honor on Monday in the 2017 PSA Awards at Le Pavillon in Pasay.
“It’s just a dream of mine to win this award,” she said in Filipino recounting last year’s awards when she watched as boxers Nonito Donaire and Donnie Nietes and golfer Miguel Tabuena copped the night’s biggest honor. “I told myself, ‘Next year, I will be the Athlete of the Year.'”
True to Diaz’s virtues, her hard work paid off.
And after the 25-year-old weightlifter’s conquest in the 2016 Rio Olympics where she won silver in the women’s 53-kg competition, gates just overflowed for her as she ended the country’s 20-year medal drought in the quadrennial Games.
“I did my best and that’s the reason why I achieved my goal,” she said. “Nothing’s impossible with God as long as you put in the effort and have the discipline.”
Diaz was just one of the 92 honorees during the night as the PSA acknowledges the sports achievers of last year.
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) president Philip Ella Juico was feted with the Executive of the Year, slalom racer Milo Rivera claimed the President’s Award, and chess legend Eugene Torre was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Likewise, PATAFA was lauded as the NSA of the Year, June Mar Fajardo as Mr. Basketball, Misagh Bahadoran as Mr. Football, Tabuena as Mr. Golf, Jeordan Dominguez as Mr. Taekwondo, and Mika Reyes as Ms. Volleyball.
RELATED VIDEO