EPISODE 9: Hidilyn Diaz - Olympic Gold Medal Hopeful

The Globally Ballin Podcast

The Philippines is an interesting place. In terms of population, it is in the top tier of countries. When it comes to poverty, sure there are impoverished areas but it would crazy to say other places around the world do not struggle with poverty more on a wider scale. Yet, the Philippines is one of only a few countries left with so gold medal in the Olympics. In the 2016 Olympic Games, the Philippines was represented with a silver medal winner, Hidilyn Diaz, a female weightlifter. Hidilyn then went and won gold in the following Asian Games. Now, she is the favorite in the even more narrowed-competition of the 2019 SEA Games. Yet, her eyes are still set on the 2020 Tokyo Games. Hidilyn has a real chance to be the first ever gold medal winner in the Philippines. And, as a country that celebrates their athletes on a completely different level (when they are successful), that is an achievement that one can not take lightly. However, Hidilyn has had her share of controversy, some of which has damaged her reputation. Join me as I interview Hidilyn about a number of topics including her past competitions, the upcoming SEA games and Olympics, and the pride she feels representing the Philippines. And, as an extra bonus, the second half of the episode features a discussion I had with the host of the Limihan Basketball Podcast, Lance Fernandez (my go-to for all things Philippines sports) as he helps break down what Hidilyn means to the country and some of the controversy that has followed her career as of late. We apologize for the late post and plan to be back on schedule if not with the next episode then the one after that. Thank you all for listening and thank you once again to Hidilyn and Lance for their contributions to this episode. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/globallyballin/support