Most of us got (extremely) bored during the repeated lockdowns of the pandemic, but few of us decided to fill our idle hours by training for the Olympics and winning a gold medal. (Ok, none of us did.)
The same can’t be said for Hidilyn Diaz, who not only used her spare time in quarantine to elevate her backbreaking hobby but just became the first woman in the history of the Philippines to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Weighing in at a scant 128 pounds, Diaz turned in a gold medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics by clean-jerking a nearly 500-pound load. The standout victory has made the 30-year-old a hero in her home country, which up until now had only ten Olympic medals (three silvers and seven bronzes).
Incredibly, in the age of super high-tech training facilities and cutting-edge diet science, Diaz used a simple household object to transform her body into a world-class lifting machine. Using a broomstick and two jugs of water, she kept in shape while stranded in Malaysia for several months during Covid lockdowns.
Posting a video to Instagram in the midst of quarantine, Diaz wrote, “Yes, I do this. I carry a bottle of water for my weightlifting training. It’s hard but we survive, still living the dream in my heart.”
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Looks like the dream is alive and well.
For taking gold in the competition, Diaz has been awarded a combined $600,000 from the Philippines government and national businessmen, along with a new house and apartment. We can only imagine after all her hard work and constant struggles, Diaz finally feels like a weight has been lifted.
Cover Story: Chris Graythen (Getty Images)
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