With heavy heart, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino on Wednesday consoled Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo by hugging and telling the country’s first Olympic gold medalist that she remained the queen and legend of Philippine sports.
“You’re still the queen,” Tolentino said minutes after the pride of Zamboanga City fell short in her bid to book a slot to the Paris Olympics during the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand.
Competing in the 59-kg division – three kilos heavier than the -56 kgs where she won gold in Tokyo – Diaz-Naranjo struggled and landed outside the magic 10, ending her fairytale story at the world’s biggest summer sporting spectacle.
“You are still our champion, you deserve all the honor and respect for giving our country its first gold medal,” Tolentino kept telling Diaz-Naranjo.
Three years ago at the pandemic delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Diaz — she wasn’t married yet to coach and trainer Julius Naranjo — hugged Tolentino in extreme delight, in tears of joy after it sunk into her that she won the country’s first Olympic gold medal inside the Tokyo International Forum.
Diaz-Naranjo wound up 11th in the International Weightlifting Federation World Cup, the last qualifier for Paris.
Diaz missed a fifth-straight Olympics and another shot at the gold because -59 kgs wasn’t fit to her physique.
“’I’m sorry, Cong, I’m sorry … ,” she repeatedly told me,” said Tolentino, who as the national sports association head for cycling when Diaz-Naranjo made her Olympic debut as a 17-year in Beijing 2008, never ceased to follow the Zamboanga City pride’s rise to glory.
“You don’t have to say sorry, again, anak, you’re still the queen, a legend,” Tolentino told Diaz-Naranjo.
