Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz looks up to a fellow Olympian as an idol and a prime motivator.
Diaz, the country’s first Olympic champion, insists that former long jump queen Marestella Torres-Sunang played a major role in her success.
In a social media post, Diaz said she admired Torres-Sunang, a four-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, in her ways of consistently making herself better for upcoming tournaments.
The two athletes were part of the Philippine delegation for the Summer Games starting in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Interestingly, the Olympics in the Brazillian capital was Torres’s last while Diaz finally made her mark after clinching a silver medal in the women’s 53-kilogram category.
“I had the chance to meet and spend time with my idol, Marestella Torres, a three-time Olympian. I was with her at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, London, and Rio. She’s someone that I looked up to when I was staying at the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) dormitory as I see her discipline in training during morning and evening, and monitoring her food,” Diaz said.
“I admired her and asked how I can be like her in weightlifting, to have perseverance in sports and, I still admire her. The passion and love for the sports, and her willingness to share knowledge with the young generation.”
Torres-Sunang retired in 2022 after falling short of a medal in the Hanoi SEA Games in the women’s long jump.
Meeting up again with Diaz, the 42-year-old champion said she and Diaz are now exchanging ideas to help out up-and-coming athletes.
“Whenever we met back then, we would have conversations as athletes but this time we’re helping and sharing knowledge with the future athletes dreaming of becoming a champion,” Torres-Sunang said.
Diaz is setting her sights on getting into the Paris Olympics and being the second Filipino to play in five editions since Martin Gison of shooting, who played in 1936 in Berlin, 1948 in London, 1952 in Helsinki, 1956 in Melbourne and 1964 in Tokyo.
