Philippines' Hidilyn Diaz reacts after placing first in the women's 55kg weightlifting competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/file
MANILA — The Philippines' first Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz, could receive a high honor in the form of a statue in no less than in her hometown of Zamboanga City.
Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso on Saturday unveiled the local government's plan to construct a statue for Diaz after her historic gold medal win at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
"As you know, we're the first-ever who got gold medal from the Olympics, it's coming from Zamboanga City, [from] no less than our weightlifter, Ms. Hidilyn Diaz," said Olaso, who is in Manila for the press launch of El Puño Zamboangueño.
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"Panahon na siguro gumawa ng mga statue [para] sa kanila. So, habang buhay pa sila, nakikita nila 'yung ginawa nila para sa ating bansa," he went on.
During the media launch of El Puño Zamboangueño on Saturday, attended by Zamboangueño boxers Eumir Marcial, Weljon Mindoro, and Albert Francisco, and City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso. Kennedy Caacbay, ABS-CBN News
Explaining the rationale of the initiative, the local chief executive said "nobody can break the record" of Diaz as the country's first Olympic champion.
"For the statue, Ms. Hidilyn Diaz glorified our country. The first-ever Olympic gold medalist—nobody can break that record. Kahit magkaroon pa ng bagong Olympian na magkaroon ng gold medal, kahit tatlo o apat masungkit niya, pero he or she cannot break the record of Ms. Hidilyn," said Olaso.
Olaso said that he already talked to Diaz, notifying her of the city's plan. He also said that Diaz "has no problem" with it.
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"I spoke to Diaz when I was in Thailand last month. Sinabi ko, nagpaalam ako, 'kung pupwede ba kita gawan ng statue, lagay namin sa upcoming project namin na rotunda sa Zamboanga to inspire more athletes? Kasi we're very proud of you,'" he said. "Sabi naman ni Ms. Hidilyn, 'wala naman problema,' sabi niya. 'Okay lang kung lalagyan mo'."
Olaso also shared an estimated timeline for Diaz's statue: "So this statue, most likely, will be constructed by April, May, or June sometime. Because we'll be allocating budget coming from our supplemental budget sa upcoming March."
Diaz etched her name in the history books after topping the podium in the women’s 55kg of weightlifting in the Tokyo Olympics in Japan five years ago.
She bested eight other competitors in her category, including world-record holder Liao Qiuyun of China, when the Filipina weightlifer lifted an Olympic record of 224 kilograms, ending the Philippines' gold medal drought in the Summer Games, nearly 100 years after the country debuted in the quadrennial sporting meet.