Olympic Gold Medalist Hidilyn Diaz hinted that she may retire from weightlifting after she failed to enter the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In her Instagram post, Hidilyn shared her realizations after losing the chance to compete again in the Olympics.
“I realized what is forever: and it is not FAME, not money, not even winning or losing. but God, family, and real friends. These are my FOREVER. Thank you for your heartfelt messages of love and support.
“Winning is not everything; It is being on the platform and taking on the challenges that give inspiration to other athletes. Thank you to the athletes who messaged me and said that I inspired them. I served and will continue to serve my purpose in weightlifting, as I inspire many athletes to dream high, take the challenge, and work hard to achieve their dreams, and never give up. Just LIFT! You can do it.”
Hidilyn also shared that she wanted to do new things that she didn’t experience during her career as an athlete like learning how to cook and bake.
“The Olympics and weightlifting are not my everything. I sacrificed a lot of my time to train and sometimes I forget to enjoy the process because I am caught with the high expectations and high pressure of being an elite athlete. This moment is for me to learn new skills – join classes and workshops to learn to cook and bake. I have long wanted to take culinary courses since I was 22 years old, and now, I will not just imagine doing pasta, pizza, and kare-kare, I will bake and cook some for my friends and family.”
Hidilyn gave the first Olympic Goal medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics and her name was already marked in history as one of the greatest Filipino athletes of all time.
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