Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 27) — Top Filipino athletes Hidilyn Diaz, EJ Obiena, and the Filipinas have bared their plans for the upcoming 32nd Southeast Asian Games in May and for future competitions such as the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Hidilyn Diaz
The Olympic gold medalist weightlifter will skip this year’s SEA Games as it would coincide with the Asian Weightlifting Championship, a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Diaz, who has begun the transition to the 59 kilogram weight class, admitted that moving up from her original category of 55 kg had been a struggle.
“So far naka-recover na, medyo mahirap kasi nga queen ako sa 55 kg…Pero yun nga, pagdating sa 59 kg (I’ve recovered already, it’s quite difficult as I’m the queen of 55 kg…But the journey to 59 kg) it takes a lot of preparation, sacrifices, pain, challenges,” Diaz said at the Summit-SEA Games press conference on Thursday.
“Pero ngayon nasabi ko na nasa kalagitnaan na ako (But now I can say that I’m in the middle of it now). I was able to overcome the struggles and challenges. One step at a time,” she added.
Diaz said her tournament in South Korea would boost her confidence in the higher weight class.
“To step there, at masabi ko na ito na talaga ang first competition na nasa 59 kg na ako (I will be able to say that this is my first competition at 59 kg). I just need to gain the confidence na kaya ko (that I can do it), gain the confidence na nandoon yung technique, yung lakas (that the technique and strength are there),” she said.
Outside of her competitive career, Diaz has focused her attention on giving back to her community.
She said she and her team have donated weightlifting equipment to small communities to increase awareness of the sport, and even launched a weightlifting academy to aid grassroots athletes realize their dreams, including those who seek to compete in future Olympics.
EJ Obiena
Obiena, top vaulter in Asia and the third ranked male in the world, is looking forward to representing the Philippines in Cambodia but has several other competitions lined up this year.
“SEA Games is one of the competitions that I look forward to do, not because it’s important for my rankings or because it’s important for me personally but because it’s important for the country and this is what I do as a Philippine national athlete,” Obiena said.
After Cambodia, the 27-year-old pole-vaulter said that he would immediately get back to training for the busy outdoor season.
“It’s a pretty busy year. After the SEA Games the plan is to continue training, prepare myself for the outdoor season that I’m gonna be participating in in the middle of June. The first immediate goal is to qualify straight up for the Paris 2024 Olympics which qualifications actually start in July,” he said.
“After that, I’ll be heading to Thailand in the later part of July to compete for the Asian Athletics Championship. Then I’ll fly back to Europe because I need to defend some points that keep me as world number three, after that I’ll be participating in Budapest for the world championship,” he added.
In late September, Obiena will compete in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Obiena added that he was working towards clearing the “six-meter barrier.” Only 24 athletes in sports history have accomplished the feat.
Philippine Women’s Football Team
After winning a bronze medal in the 2021 SEA Games, the Filipinas hope to rank even higher this year.
“We’re definitely well prepared to get better than our bronze finish from last year. We definitely want to improve on that,” Filipinas Goalkeeper Kiara Fontanilla said.
“For us moving from the Olympic qualifier back from last month we are really getting prepared,” she added.
On April 12, the Filipinas dominated Hong Kong, 4-0, pushing them into the next round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in October.
The two best teams out of the AFC will be competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“We’re really excited to move on from the qualifiers into the SEA Games in hopes of getting better than a bronze because we wanna bring that pride and honor to the country,” Fontanilla said.
