In 2021, the Philippines finally got its first Olympic gold medal, thanks to weightlifter and airwoman Hidilyn Diaz. She won gold in the women's 55kg category for weightlifting at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
Her road to the Olympic gold was a long and bumpy one, with many setbacks along the way. She stopped school and moved out of her hometown, living away from her family for years to focus on training.
In June 2019, Hidilyn voiced her dire need for more financial support to train for the Olympics. One of her most challenging roadblocks happened at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Hidilyn was supposed to compete in an Olympic qualifying event in Colombia but she was stuck in Malaysia after borders closed. After months of gruelling training, Hidilyn finally made it to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics where she lifted 127 kg in the clean and jerk category, earning the country's very first Olympic gold medal.
In her Olympic journey, Hidilyn's coach and then boyfriend Julius Naranjo has always been by her side. The couple first met through a competition in Turkmenistan back in 2017. Julius is a half Filipino, half Japanese weightlifter who was then based in Guam. He became Hidilyn's coach for strength and conditioning.
In October 2021, Julius proposed to Hidilyn and less than a year later, during the anniversary of Hidilyn's historic Olympic gold medal win, they tied the knot in a Baguio garden wedding on July 26.
Take a look at Hidilyn and Julius' sweetest photos below:
Hidilyn Diaz and Julius Naranjo first met in 2017 during a weightlifting competition in Turkmenistan.
"I got introduced to Hidilyn [by] my teammates because they did the 2017 Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Open Championships,"
Hidilyn admitted that she wasn't attracted to Julius at first, though Julius had a crush on her.
"Fan ko raw siya. Then, ayun, ini-snub ko siya noong una. Then, niloloko ko na walang magkakagusto sa kanya dito sa Pilipinas kasi maliit siya. Siyempre, kaming mga Pilipina, gusto namin matangkad," she said in an interview.
Their friendship became stronger, and Julius eventually became Hidilyn's strength and conditioning coach.
Julius also mentioned the challenges in their relationship when there's a competition coming up or they have to be long-distance. "At least, leading up to competition, one of the hardest things is she is emotionally invested in weightlifting. So, it gets hard for me when I'm feeling down because I don't want to distract her from focusing. If I tell her what I'm feeling, I don't want to affect her," he said. "So it gets hard, especially if, one, she's not emotionally there for me, and two, I can't be there physically with her, too."
Hidilyn sees the win in having a long distance relationship though it's hard.
"Para sa akin mas gusto ko kasing [long-distance relationship]; nagagawa kong mag-training and nakakapag-focus ako. Pero mahirap din," she admitted.
Julius has already met Hidilyn's family in her hometown of Zamboanga City and has been warmly accepted by the Diaz family.
Throughout all the training, Hidilyn and Julius remain strong as a couple.
"I love weightlifting and she loves weightlifting and she loves representing [the Philippines] and doing everything she can to promote and to represent her country," he said.
Hidilyn and Julius stayed in Malaysia with Coach Kaiwan Gao and the rest of their team during the pandemic as travel restrictions were implemented.
Hidilyn's journey to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics proved to be a victorious one after she earned a gold medal at the women's 55 kg category for weightlifting.
Hidilyn and Julius are winning in both love and weightlifting.
Julius proposed to Hidilyn on the night of October 15, 2021.
Hidilyn made the announcement the next day on her Instagram account.
The ring is gold with a heavy diamond. It also incorporated a barbell into the design since both of them are weighlifters.
Hidilyn and Julius had a welcome party for their guests a day ahead of their wedding.
Hidilyn's bride squad.
Hidilyn in a Francis Libiran dress while holding a wreath of orchids.
The 'weight' is over for Hidilyn and Julius!