Hidilyn Diaz shares success story in children’s book

Olympian weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and her success story are featured in a children’s book titled ‘Ginto’t Pilak’ (Gold and Sliver). 

Diaz shared the book—which is also written by herself—to spread awareness in the sport as well as to inspire the younger generation. 

“This is one of my WHY’s in life, before I won the silver medal for the Philippines at the 2016 Rio Olympics, I didn’t give up on my preparation for Olympics because of the younger generation,” Diaz wrote on her Facebook page.

“I wanted to build a Weightlifitng gym for them, I built it, but what I want is to give them the inspiration to continue with their dream in weightlifting. I came from nothing to eventually becoming a silver medalist. We never know, one of these kids might be the next Gold Medalist.” 

Its foreword recounts Diaz’s humble beginnings before becoming a weightlifter with plenty of medals under her belt.  

 “Sa patuloy na pagsisikap at pagtitiyaga, pinatunayan ni Hidilyn na hindi lamang maaring magbuhat ng mabigat ang mga babae, maaari rin silang manalo ng mga medalyang ginto at pilak (With continuous hard-work, Hidilyn proves that not only can women lift heavy objects, but they can win medals gold and silver, too),” an excerpt of the book read.

Aside from her silver medal from the 2016 Olympics, she has already bagged three gold medals from these competitions: The 2019 Southeast Asian Games; 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta; and the 2015 Asian Championships in Phuket, Thailand.

Diaz is currently training in Kuala Lumpur for the remaining Olympic qualifier events with Team HD. The team is comprised of mentor Kaiwen Gao, strength and conditioning coach Julius Naranjo, and therapist Belen Bañas

Published by Anvil publishing, Diaz wrote ‘Ginto’t Pilak’ along with Eugene Evasco. It is illustrated by Tristan Yuvienco.

Photo is from msn.com