Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz brought a great honor to the Filipinos when she won the Philippines’ first gold at the Olympics just last Sunday when she won the women’s 55kg event.
As a tribute to Diaz’s latest success, ABS-CBN aired Diaz’s visit to “Magandang Buhay” in 2019 after winning gold at the Southeast Asian Games held in the Philippines.
During the visit, Hidilyn Diaz was also accompanied by her boyfriend and professional coach, Julius Naranjo.
On ABS-CBN’s morning program, Diaz shared the story of her love affair with Naranjo, a Filipino-Japanese weightlifter she met in a competition in Turkmenistan in 2017.
According to Naranjo, it was on his second or third visit to Diaz in 2018 when he realized that he was falling for the weightlifting fairy of the Philippines.
“I didn’t know how famous or how popular she was. I just knew that she was really a good weightlifter. So that’s what really caught my eye. And getting to meet her for the first time I was starstruck,” said Julius Naranjo.
In the same interview, Diaz said that she is lucky to have Naranjo by her side who knows and accepts that her priority is weightlifting.
Hidilyn Diaz and boyfriend Julius Naranjo love story
“Masyado kasi akong focused. Alam niya na ang priority ko ngayon ay weightlifting talaga. So suwerte ako na nandiyan siya sumusuporta,” said Diaz.
According to Diaz, although there are misunderstandings because they both have strong personalities, they agree on weightlifting.
“Siya ginagawa niya ng maayos ang trabaho niya. Ako gusto ko mag-perform ng maayos. So nagki-click pagdating sa training,” said Diaz.
Julius Naranjo promised then, no matter what happens, he will always be there for Diaz.
“I promise to continue to support you even after Tokyo 2020 if you decide to continue,” Naranjo said.
In the same interview, Diaz mentioned her plan after the Tokyo Olympics.
“Ang gusto ko after na — sana makuha ko, kini-claim ko na makuha ang gold medal sa Olympics — after that magkakaroon ng baby, mag-settle. Then kailangan ko rin makapagtapos (ng pag-aaral),” Diaz then said.
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