Gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz changes into her Philippine Air Force uniform, where she is a sergeant, upon her arrival in Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.
MANILA, Philippines — Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz lost both her passport and her phone at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Wednesday but later got them back, according to a Facebook post by her manager, Noel Ferrer.
The golden girl’s team was “stressed” after losing her personal belongings, Ferrer said.
“We didn’t expect that it’s during this homecoming that we’d be stressed,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.
“Stressful because — our Olympian lost her phone and passport in the airport earlier. I told her, it’s risky to stay long at the airport,” he added.
He then updated his post, saying that the phone and passport had already been returned.
According to Ferrer, online interviews for Diaz were canceled after she was “escorted” by an unnamed House representative to a pressroom and later by a member of Presidential Management Staff for a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte.
Diaz earlier arrived in Manila from Narita Airport in Tokyo — Japan less than 48 hours after winning the gold medal in the women’s 55-kg category weightlifting competition.
READ: Away for over a year, golden girl Hidilyn Diaz finally home
The 30-year-old Diaz delivered the Philippines’ first Olympic gold, nearly a century later since the country first participated in the Games in Paris in 1924.
She spent the last 17 months in Malaysia as part of her Tokyo buildup in February 2020 due to the pandemic.
READ: ‘Worth it’: Hidilyn Diaz sacrificed a lot for Olympic gold
Because of her victory, Diaz is set to receive prizes worth over P35 million, including the P10 million mandated by the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act signed in 2015 by then-President Benigno S. Aquino III.