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Asian Games champ Hidilyn Diaz fulfills weightlifting gym promise in hometown

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Karl Cedrick Basco, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/08/26/20180826-hidilyn-gym-facade.jpg?ext=.jpg"/></figure></div><p>MANILA – From a bamboo-woven paneled makeshift gym to a large, concrete and well-built weightlifting training place. </p><p>Rio Olympics silver medalist and newly minted Asian Games golden girl Hidilyn Diaz did good on her promise — to build a new weightlifting gymnasium for all aspiring lifters in her hometown Zamboanga City.</p><p>Upon her return from Brazil in 2016, Diaz revealed to ABS-CBN News that she wanted to have a legitimate gym for weightlifting in Barangay Mampang in the city where she started her journey as a young lifter.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="lyn-diaz-do-with-p6-m-prize-money">READ: Asian Games: What will gold winner Hidilyn Diaz do with P6-M prize</a></li></ul><p>Located beside her home, the Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Gym was opened to the public on August 1, 2017, just a year after announcing her promise. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/08/26/20180826-hidilyn-gym-old-new.jpg?ext=.jpg"/></figure></div><p>According to her cousin, Allen Diaz, who is a regional trainer of weightlifting, the construction of the fully furnished gym attracted more young residents of their city to try and train the sport, hoping to follow the footsteps of Hidilyn. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/hidilyn-diaz">READ: How Mampang carried Hidilyn Diaz to Olympic glory</a></li></ul><p>“Sobrang saya ng mga bata [kasi may gym na sila ngayon],” Allen told ABS-CBN News. “Mas dumami ‘yung mga nagpupuntang bata.”</p><p>Allen bared that he is now coaching about 30 lifters, aging from 6 years old to 24 years old, in the newly-built gym which is open free for all the athletes. </p><p>The 27-year-old athlete first trained under a sampaloc tree in a neighboring barangay along with her cousins, who influenced her to try the sport after seeing her lifting pails of water as early as 9 years old. </p><p>She continued her training for years in a makeshift gym in front of their house where she and her cousins only have limited number of bars and deformed and improvised plates. The gym was semi-cemented and just 15-square-meter big. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/21/18/asian-games-hidilyn-diaz-wins-first-gold-for-philippines">READ: Asian Games: Hidilyn Diaz wins first gold for Philippines</a></li></ul><p>On Wednesday, Hidilyn captured the first gold medal of the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia after carrying 207kg to beat Turkmenistan and the defending world champion from Thailand.</p><p>Here’s a look of the Hidilyn Diaz’s gym in Zamboanga.</p><div class="media-content"><div class="slider-for"><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/08/26/20180826-hidilyn-gym-1.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/08/26/20180826-hidilyn-gym-2.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/08/26/20180826-hidilyn-gym-3.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/08/26/20180826-hidilyn-gym-4.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/sports/08/26/20180826-hidilyn-gym-5.jpg"/></div></div><div class="media-content slider-desc"><div class="item-desc"><div><cite>Jewel Reyes, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></div><div class="item-desc"><div><cite>Jewel Reyes, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></div><div class="item-desc"><div><cite>Jewel Reyes, ABS-CBN News</cite></div></div><div class="item-desc"><div><cite>Allen Diaz</cite></div></div><div class="item-desc"><div><cite>Allen Diaz</cite></div></div></div></div><p>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.</p>

<p>Diaz's gym in Zamboanga City has been operating for a year now; with her recent Asian Games gold, she looks to inspire more to take up her sport.</p>

Diaz's gym in Zamboanga City has been operating for a year now; with her recent Asian Games gold, she looks to inspire more to take up her sport.

Asian Games champ Hidilyn Diaz fulfills weightlifting gym promise in hometown

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Asian Games champ Hidilyn Diaz fulfills weightlifting gym promise in hometown

Karl Cedrick Basco,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 26, 2018 01:35 PM PHT

Read More:

Asian Games

2018 Asian Games

Hidilyn Diaz

weightlifting

Zamboanga

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