The character arc of Hidilyn Diaz
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 20 February 1991 in Zamboanga City, the fifth of six children of a tricycle driver who later became a farmer and a fisherman. Between then and now sit basketball and volleyball tried first, a cousin who taught her weightlifting, a scholarship to school and a computer science course begun, a bronze at the 2007 regional games, a first Olympics in 2008 as the youngest in her category, a silver in 2016 that ended a twenty year medal drought for her country, and the first Olympic gold medal the Philippines has ever won, with two Olympic records. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Hidilyn Diaz?
A century of waiting, and she lifted it.
She is the fifth of six children. Her father drove a tricycle before becoming a farmer and a fisherman. She grew up wanting to be a banker and tried several sports, basketball and volleyball among them, and it was a cousin who taught her the basics of weightlifting. She went to a local college on a scholarship for her secondary schooling, and began a degree in computer science at the same school before stopping in her third year.
The early record is a long apprenticeship. A bronze at the regional games in Thailand in 2007, tenth place at the Asian Games in 2006, two golds and a silver at an Asian youth and junior championship while she was still a student. She competed at the 2008 Olympics as the youngest competitor in her category, and again in 2012.
In 2016 she won silver in the fifty three kilogram division, which was the first Olympic medal a Filipino had won in a non-boxing event since 1936 and ended a twenty year drought for the country. Then, at the 2020 Games, held in 2021, she won gold in the fifty five kilogram category and became the first Filipino Olympic gold medallist there has ever been. She set two Olympic records doing it, in the clean and jerk at a hundred and twenty seven kilograms and in the total at two hundred and twenty four. She is also an educator and a reservist in her country's air force.
The moments
Hidilyn Diaz's timeline.
The 1990s
Fifth of six
Everyday. A tricycle driver's daughter, fifth of six.
The 2000s
A cousin teaches her
Milestone, and it changed everything. She wanted to be a banker, and a cousin showed her how to lift.
A scholarship to school
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Her schooling was paid for because she could lift.
Tenth at the Asian Games
Milestone. Tenth, then a bronze. The unglamorous start of a long record.
Golds as a student
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Two golds and a silver, while still at college.
The youngest in her category
Milestone, and it changed everything. Seventeen years old, at her first Olympic Games.
The 2010s
A second Games
Everyday. A second Games, and still nothing to take home.
Carry on after two Games
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: go again, taken, or take the degree. She won silver in 2016 and her country's first ever Olympic gold at the 2020 Games.
Twenty years of waiting ends
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first medal in twenty years, and the first outside boxing since 1936.
An Asian Games medal
Milestone. Between the Olympic medals, the regional ones kept coming.
The 2020s
A country's first gold
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first gold medal her country has ever won, and two Olympic records with it.
An educator and an airwoman
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Two more jobs, alongside the lifting.
Zamboanga City claims her and the whole country did too, on the morning of that lift. What it has set moving is the end of a very long wait: the Philippines had sent athletes to the Games for the best part of a century without a gold, and a tricycle driver's daughter from Mindanao finished it.
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Hidilyn Diaz: frequently asked questions
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Where does this timeline of Hidilyn Diaz's life come from?
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Sources
- Hidilyn Diaz, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- International Olympic Committee records for the 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games.
- Asian Games and South East Asian Games medal records.