The Tokyo Olympics and the Spotlight on Filipino Women in Sports

Written by Sophia Reyes

The latest Olympics, held in Tokyo, Japan from July 23 to August 8 last year, had quite the import on Philippine sports, with athletes from our homeland not only bagging multiple wins but also making history with multiple firsts. What Filipino citizens from all over the world have found particularly notable and commendable about this are the women that make up this list.

HIDILYN DIAZ – GOLD, WOMEN’S WEIGHTLIFTING 55KG

Staff Sergeant Hidilyn Francisco Diaz is a weightlifter and airwoman from Zamboanga. She began her career in the early 2000s and became the first Filipina weightlifter to compete in the Olympics, and the sixth weightlifter overall.

This is not Diaz’s first achievement in the world’s biggest sporting stage, as she is a four time competitor in the Olympics. In 2016, she won silver at the Summer Olympics in Rio, making her the first Filipino to take home a medal from the event in 20 years. She has also placed in competitions like the SEA Games, the IWF World Weightlifting Championship, and the Roma 2020 World Cup.

NESTHY PETECIO – SILVER, WOMEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT BOXING

Our first Filipino female boxer to medal in the Olympics, Davao Del Sur-born Nesthy Petecio, has been in the sport from a young age. At 11, she was already joining boxing matches. This is where she was discovered by the Philippine women’s team coach Roel Velasco.

Bagging a silver at this year’s fight makes her the first Filipino boxer to medal after 25 years. Petecio has also clinched medals in other competitions such as silver at the 2014 AIBA Women’s World Championships, the 2011 and 2013 Southeast Asian Games, and a gold at the 2019 Thailand Open International Boxing Championship.

MARGIELYN DIDAL – 7TH PLACE, WOMEN’S STREET SKATEBOARDING

Hailing from Cebu City, Margielyn Arda Didal is a professional street skateboarder who became known for her participation in the X Games Minneapolis 2018 as the first Filipino athlete to compete in the tournament.

Some of Didal’s other accomplishments include winning the Philippines’ fourth gold at the 2018 Asian Games, and two gold medals at the 2018 Southeast Asian Games in women’s Game of Skate and street skateboarding. She was also featured in Time magazine in its list of “25 Most Influential Teens of 2018”.

MORE THAN A MEDAL

These wins go beyond the realm of national news and Philippine sports history. It means hope for our young athletes, especially for women in sports, who do not always receive the same respect as their male counterparts and are even often met with doubt and suspicion, a withstanding issue rooted in patriarchal views and values.

Additionally, another aspect of what makes Diaz, Petecio, and Didal such prominent players is how they are all succeeding at fields that are traditionally male-dominated. It is no secret that women usually have to work twice as hard in order to get where they want to be, and that is especially pronounced in the sports world. And if this isn’t impressive and commendable enough of a feat, they are doing so under the rule of a machofascist president who is known for the horrible manner in which he treats women and the ways in which he reinforces misogyny.

Since they placed in this year’s Olympics, all three women have gotten a long list of incentives and rewards from the government, major brands, and business tycoons; and while this is certainly a good thing, our athletes deserve to be given the support they need, be it moral and/or financial, even before they are able to make it on an international scale, as achievements in the local scene is already something worth the recognition and acknowledgment. They deserve this even as they train and work towards whatever they are aiming for.

“THIS GOLD IS FOR ALL FILIPINO PEOPLE” - HIDILYN DIAZ

Diaz, Petecio, and Didal all have the entire nation celebrating, not only because of their respective accomplishments, but also because they dedicated these to our motherland and everyone at home. Years and years of training and trying have gotten them all here, and we could not be any prouder.