FIRMLY believing in their goldmedal potential, the Zamboanga city government last Wednesday approved P2.5 million in cash incentives each if homegrown talentsHidylin Diaz and Felix Eumir Marcialbring home the mint from the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“The Zamboanga City board led by Mayor Beng Climaco approved last Wednesday P2.5 million (incentive) each should Diaz and Marcial bring home Olympic gold medals,” Councilor and sportsman Elbert Atilano told Malaya Business Insight yesterday.
“This is more than double the P1 million than what we gave Hidy (Diaz’s nickname) when she won the silver in the Rio Olympics,” said Atilano, who has been the weightlifter’s mentor since she was 10.
Atiano said he has been in constant communication with the Rio Olympics silver medalist during her training camp in Malaysia.
“Based on what I have seen during her practice in the video and the lifters she will be up against, I believe Hidy has a big chance of winning the gold,” he said with confidence.
“Maganda ‘yung porma niya sa practice.”
Making her fourth straight Olympic appearance, the Pinay lifter’s most formidable rival for the gold in the women’s 55-kilogram division is China’s Liao Qiuyun, the 2019 world champion and back-to-back Asian champion.
Aware of his former ward’s headstrong ways, Atilano said he advised Diaz to stick to Chinese coach Gao Kaiwen’s instructions and focus on executing her lifts properly.
Diaz will make an all-out effort to win the gold in the women’s weightlifting 55-kg competition against 13 other athletes on July 26 at the Tokyo International Forum.
Atilano also had good words for Marcial, a four-time Southeast Asian Games boxing champion and world boxing silver medalist, whom he believes is a strong gold prospect in the men’ middleweight division.
“We’ve followed the career of Eumir closely and are confident he will do well,” he said.
Marcial will swing into action in the preliminaries on July 26, hoping to make it to the gold-medal round on Aug. 7.
