Hidilyn Diaz during the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon
MANILA, Philippines — It is likely that Hidilyn Diaz won’t have her friends and family cheering for her when she aims for a historic gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics later this year.
Putting a premium on health and safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo Olympics organizers have barred foreign spectators from the sports spectacle.
“It’s sad because I have a lot of friends who would’ve wanted to come to cheer for me and see the most historical moment for the Philippines,” said Diaz in Filipino on the So She Did! podcast.
“We need to understand that we’re in the middle of a pandemic right now. Like what the IOC said, health first and the safety in Japan, the Japanese and the world,” she added. “We’re in a pandemic, so I understand them.”
Diaz is expected to formally secure her spot in the Summer Games when she participates in the Asian Weightlifting Championships from April 16-25 in Uzbekistan.
The 30-year-old Zamboanga City native is among the Philippines’ best bet toward clinching the country’s first ever gold medal. Diaz bagged the silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
She’s been keeping herself in form, training in Malaysia since last year.
But while Diaz would’ve wanted to her friends and family in the stands, she’s just glad that the Games is scheduled to push through in July after getting postponed last year.
“I’d take this rather than [the Olympics not pushing through],” she said. “The athletes have already sacrificed so much for the Olympics not to push through.”