“Do you even lift, bro?” The kids said, probably.
Hidilyn Diaz does not seem content on bringing home the country’s first Olympic gold.
Well, she is trying for a second gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics. What we hope to highlight here, however, is how the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and her husband Julius Naranjo have always made it their agenda to give back.
Not too long ago, Diaz and Naranjo—who’s also one of Hidilyn’s coaches—taught weightlifting to servicemen in the air force, army, police, coast guard, and jail management and penology. Aside from that, the couple has also taken it upon themselves to jumpstart a grassroots program for the sport of weightlifting.
And now, the Weightlifting Academy is paying dividends.
In a recent Instagram post of Naranjo, 13 boys and girls, with ages from eight to 16, were shown displaying their weightlifting form. Some did the snatch, while the others executed the clean and jerk.
The video was taken during their tryouts as they prepare for the Weightlifting Nationals and Batang Pinoy Youth National Games, both taking place this year, says Naranjo.
It was a marvelous athletic display by the children. See for yourself:
Coach Julius says the kids have already “come a long way” and that this collective feat is just proof of that.
“It’s only up from here,” Naranjo wrote on his IG post.
Perhaps one of these kids will be the next Hidilyn Diaz. But even if that does not happen to be case in the future, the lessons of empowerment that the kids get in this program will only stick with them.
That’s just one of the many good things about sports.