![Young children attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo's newest weightlifting academy. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2023/11/Sports565697-scaled-e1699280874845-620x336.jpg)
Young children attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo’s newest weightlifting academy. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
From gold medalist in Olympic weightlifting to philanthropist.
Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo proved she is more than just a beacon of hope by offering something more tangible that can help young athletes follow the same path to glory as she did: a training center in Jala-Jala, Rizal province, which she hopes it will serve as a factory mill that will produce lifters like her.
“With all the blessings I have earned and received, I must give back to the community,” Diaz-Naranjo said during the groundbreaking of her HD Weightlifting Academy in the fourth-tier municipality on a peninsula about 70 kilometers southeast of Manila.
Diaz-Naranjo’s proposed 108 square meters (sq. ft.) training facility will rise in the middle of the couple’s 7,000 sq. ft. property in Sitio Manggahan.
Diaz-Naranjo’s husband and coach, Julius Naranjo, will serve as the academy’s head coach and trainer. The couple began informally training a dozen children between the ages of 5 and 17 last year in a makeshift gym in a garage.
“This is the beginning of something we really want to do, the beginning of what we are trying to achieve,” said Diaz-Naranjo, whose fame began when he competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics at the age of 18 before moving on to more experience at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
The pride of Zamboanga City finally reached the medal podium with silver at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, ahead of her gold breakthrough at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games.
The couple expects the academy to be completed before the second quarter of next year, hoping to grow and sustain the facility with the help of sponsors.
“For now, ours is just an outreach gym. We will start by addressing the needs of the athletes here in our community first,” Diaz-Naranjo said.
The facility’s design includes four platforms, three of which can accommodate 24 athletes training simultaneously in two-hour sessions. The remaining platform provides space for athletes who want to rest.
Training camp Paris
The facility will also serve as a training ground for Diaz-Naranjo’s bid for a fifth straight Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, as well as for her 19-year-old protégé Rosegie Ramos, who aims to join the Philippine weightlifting heroine in the French capital next year add.
This early on, Diaz-Naranjo also made it clear that kids won’t spend all their time lifting weights. The academy will require the young athletes to focus on their training as well.
![Hidilyn Diaz wants to follow up her gold at the Tokyo Olympics with a victory at the world championships later this year](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2021/10/Hidilyn-Diaz-Tokyo-Olympics-101621-620x436.jpg)
Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo became the country’s biggest sports heroine after her golden performance in Tokyo. —FILE PHOTO
“It is a requirement. Sometimes we offer scholarships to help them become good citizens that will ultimately lead to a better life for their families,” said Diaz-Naranjo, who took time out for her studies amid her busy schedule and received her degree in business management from the College of St. Benilde.
The academy comes at a time when Diaz-Naranjo feels the momentum of the sport is growing in the country.
“Children come to our shelter every day, even though not everyone survives the training. We teach them focus, discipline and dedication without vices and other activities that can affect their progress,” Diaz-Naranjo said.
The groundbreaking Sunday was also attended by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richard Bachmann and PSC Executive Director Paulo Francisco Tatad. INQ