John Franklin Kennedy Caacbay

Article (news)

20210726-olympics-diaz-gold-6

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/176864536198520210726-olympics-diaz-gold-6.jpg" style="width:960px;display:block;height:auto" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Philippines&#x27; Hidilyn Diaz reacts after placing first in the women&#x27;s 55kg weightlifting competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. <em>Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/file</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Philippines&#x27; first Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz, could receive a high honor in the form of a statue in no less than in her hometown of Zamboanga City.</p><p>Zamboanga City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso on Saturday unveiled the local government&#x27;s plan to construct a statue for Diaz after her historic gold medal win at the Tokyo Games in 2021.</p><p>&quot;As you know, we&#x27;re the first-ever who got gold medal from the Olympics, it&#x27;s coming from Zamboanga City, [from] no less than our weightlifter, Ms. Hidilyn Diaz,&quot; said Olaso, who is in Manila for the press launch of El Puño Zamboangueño.</p><div><a class="fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/26/21/gold-at-last-hidilyn-writes-ph-sports-history-as-olympic-champ"><strong>READ: Gold at last! Hidilyn writes PH sports history as Olympic champ<br/></strong></a></div><p>&quot;Panahon na siguro gumawa ng mga statue [para] sa kanila. So, habang buhay pa sila, nakikita nila &#x27;yung ginawa nila para sa ating bansa,&quot; he went on.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1768645480192IMG_6150.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">During the media launch of El Puño Zamboangueño on Saturday, attended by Zamboangueño boxers Eumir Marcial, Weljon Mindoro, and Albert Francisco, and City Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso. <em>Kennedy Caacbay, ABS-CBN News </em></span></span></span></div><p>Explaining the rationale of the initiative, the local chief executive said &quot;nobody can break the record&quot; of Diaz as the country&#x27;s first Olympic champion.</p><p>&quot;For the statue, Ms. Hidilyn Diaz glorified our country. The first-ever Olympic gold medalist—nobody can break that record. Kahit magkaroon pa ng bagong Olympian na magkaroon ng gold medal, kahit tatlo o apat masungkit niya, pero he or she cannot break the record of Ms. Hidilyn,&quot; said Olaso.</p><p>Olaso said that he already talked to Diaz, notifying her of the city&#x27;s plan. He also said that Diaz &quot;has no problem&quot; with it.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2025/12/15/after-missing-out-on-sea-games-medal-is-hidilyn-diaz-thinking-of-retirement-1242"><strong>READ: After missing out on SEA Games medal, is Hidilyn Diaz thinking of retirement?</strong></a></div><p>&quot;I spoke to Diaz when I was in Thailand last month. Sinabi ko, nagpaalam ako, &#x27;kung pupwede ba kita gawan ng statue, lagay namin sa upcoming project namin na rotunda sa Zamboanga to inspire more athletes? Kasi we&#x27;re very proud of you,&#x27;&quot; he said. &quot;Sabi naman ni Ms. Hidilyn, &#x27;wala naman problema,&#x27; sabi niya. &#x27;Okay lang kung lalagyan mo&#x27;.&quot;</p><p>Olaso also shared an estimated timeline for Diaz&#x27;s statue: &quot;So this statue, most likely, will be constructed by April, May, or June sometime. Because we&#x27;ll be allocating budget coming from our supplemental budget sa upcoming March.&quot;</p><p>Diaz etched her name in the history books after topping the podium in the women’s 55kg of weightlifting in the Tokyo Olympics in Japan five years ago.</p><p>She bested eight other competitors in her category, including world-record holder Liao Qiuyun of China, when the Filipina weightlifer lifted an Olympic record of 224 kilograms, ending the Philippines&#x27; gold medal drought in the Summer Games, nearly 100 years after the country debuted in the quadrennial sporting meet.</p>

<p>The Philippines' first Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz, could receive a high honor in the form of a statue, no less than in her hometown, Zamboanga City.</p>

The Philippines' first Olympic gold medalist, Hidilyn Diaz, could receive a high honor in the form of a statue, no less than in her hometown, Zamboanga City.

Zamboanga City mayor unveils plan to build statue for PH's first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz

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Zamboanga City mayor unveils plan to build statue for PH's first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz

Kennedy Caacbay,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 17, 2026 06:54 PM PHT

Read More:

abssports

Hidilyn Diaz

weightlifting

Zamboanga City

Mayor Khymer Adan Olaso

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