The Filipino community all over the world is rejoicing right now because one athlete competing in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil had just won the silver medal in Olympic Weightlifting! This came after the country’s 20-year drought for an Olympic medal – with the last one won in 1996 by Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco who won the silver medal in boxing for men’s light flyweight division.
But Hidilyn Diaz did not just become the first Filipino to win an Olympic medal after a 20-year drought, she was also, of course, the first Filipino to win a medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio – and aside from that obvious record, she actually made a name for herself for being the first Filipina to win an Olympic medal!
Yes, Hidilyn is the first woman from the Philippines to win an Olympic medal!
Moreover, she is also the first one from Mindanao to win an Olympic medal, the first Filipino athlete to win an Olympic medal in Weighlifting, and the first non-boxing Olympic medalist since 1936.
