After making history as the first Filipino Olympic gold medalist during the 2022 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, national athlete Hidilyn Diaz hopes to bring honor to the country again next year during the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris, France. The 32-year-old national athlete announced her plans last March 6 during the Philippine SportsWriters Association annual awards night where she won Athlete of the Year for the fourth year in a row.

In her post, she wrote, “Last night, I was awarded for the second straight and fourth title overall as PSA-Athlete of the Year.

“Sobrang saya na makabalik ulit na makasama, makita at maka-kwentuhan ang mga kaibigan, kapwa atleta at sports officials. Yung pagtanggap ng award ko mula sa PSA ay malaking bagay sa akin dahil akala ko tapos na after Tokyo Olympics. Pero, heto ako ngayon, nakikilala pa rin ang ang sport ko at nare-recognize ang pagiging babaeng atleta sa weightlifting.

At ipagpapatuloy pa rin natin ang laban para sa Pilipinas sa 2024 Paris Olympics.”

READ: Hidilyn Diaz celebrates her birthday teaching weightlifting to orphans

During her acceptance speech, Hidilyn looked back on all the challenges in her life and how she overcame them in order to reach her current status as a world-class athlete.

“Wow, naalala ko nung una pinapangarap ko lang ito, na makatanggap ng PSA award. Sabi ko gusto ko mag-attend dito, tapos ngayon pang-apat na.

“Nung una, nakatanggap ako nung nanalo ako ng silver medal sa Rio Olympics. pagkatapos nito nanalo ako ng gold medal nung 2018 Asian Games. Then last year nung nanalo ako ng first gold medal sa Tokyo Olympics. Then now, this year, naiuwi ko ang fourth award na ito dahil sa pagpapanalo ko sa World Weightlifting Championship.

“Para sa akin napakalaking bagay nun na bumalik ulit sa pagbubuhat. Bumalik ulit sa pagmamahal sa pagbubuhat at yung ibigay ko ang lahat para sa sports para sa Pilipinas. Sobrang thankful ako kasi nagbunga lahat ng sacrifices at challenges ng weightlifting training, studies ko being a military athlete as well as a wife to my husband, Julius Naranjo.

“It shows that if you really want something, you work hard on it and you are surrounded by people who believe in you and support you, you can achieve great things in life. Gagawa at gagawa tayo ng paraan, gaano man ito kahirap para sa pangarap natin. Samahan natin ng tiwala sa Diyos, tiwala sa sarili, disiplina, sipag, at determinasyon. Lalo na kung napapalibutan tayo ng mga taong naniniwala sa atin at sa goals natin.”

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Hidilyn also said she wanted to prove her detractors wrong in saying she is already past her prime when it comes to winning another gold medal for her sport.

“30 plus na ako. Pero ito pa rin, naglalaro pa rin ako. Sinisikap makapagtapos din ng pag-aaral. Kaya sa mga nagsasabi na, ‘It’s too late to start,’ hindi ako naniniwala diyan dahil age doesn’t matter. It’s just a number. What matters is how you work hard and how bad you really want it. At importante din that you love what you are doing.

“You know your purpose, why you are doing it. Whether for yourself, or for your family. But for us, everyone here, especially to my fellow athletes, we are doing this for love of our country and our sports. Tayong mga atletang Pilipino, we continue to fight for our country and naniniwala ako na madaming susunod sa yapak ko na manalo ng gold sa Olympics, maging champion sa anumang laro at larangan. Sa susunod na taon, Olympics na ulit at gagawin ko ang lahat para makuha ulit ang gintong medalya sa Paris Olympics.”

Hidilyn is currently enrolled at the College of St. Benilde in Manila where she is taking up a degree in Business Administration majoring in Business Management.

“Hindi rin madali maging student athlete na pumupunta sa klase minsan inaantok na, pumupunta pa rin at isang scholar. Malapit na. It took me seven years para makapagtapos. Isang term na lang. Hopefully this year maka-graduate na. Pinapangarap ko lang na after nung 2016 na mag-aral, makapagtapos at ngayon, after seven years, malapit na (laughs).”