THE Philippines must thank Malaysia for having a hand in producing their first Olympic champion in weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, who won the women's 55kg division in Tokyo on Monday.
Hidilyn had been "living in exile" in Malaysia since February last year due to the Covid pandemic.
"I'm looking forward to enjoying life because I have been in Malaysia for, I don't know, almost two years, so I'm thankful I can go home now and celebrate with my family and the people who support me," she told AFP on Saturday.
She headed to Malaysia in February last year because her Chinese coach, Gao Kaiwen, thought it would be better for her as she focused on qualifying for Tokyo.
But within weeks came Covid-19 restrictions, leaving Hidilyn to battle gym closures, lack of access to weightlifting equipment and the uncertainty of whether the Games would be held at all.
For months, Hidilyn was stuck in an apartment in Kuala Lumpur where they had to be careful not to crack the tiled floor while training with weights.
In September last year, she relocated to Jasin in Melaka, where they were living in a house owned by a Malaysian weightlifting official.
She began using a nearby gym, but restrictions were tightened again, forcing her to work out in the house's sweltering open-air carport for the last few months.
The guardian of the house that Hidilyn trained in, described her as an athlete with an incredibly focused mindset.
The house in Jasin belongs to the parents-in-law of Ahmad Janius Abdullah, the vice-president of the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation, who was not surprised by her win.
"We are happy for her and the Philippines. She worked very hard to achieve this success," said Janius yesterday. "She is an incredibly focused athlete with a strong winning mentality.
"When she was here (Malaysia), she made it very clear that her mission was to win the gold in Tokyo. She repeatedly said that she would not settle for any other colour (medal).
"She has a very strong mindset which our athletes can learn from. Sometimes our athletes just think about going (qualifying) to the Olympics (rather than winning)."
Janius disclosed that the various restrictions, imposed since the pandemic struck last year, led to her move to Melaka.
"Originally, she came here early last year (January) and trained with her coach at the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil ahead of the Olympic qualifiers," said Janius.
"However, after Movement Control Order (MCO) 1.0 was imposed, she moved out of Bukit Jalil and stayed at an apartment in Seri Kembangan.
"After she moved there, she briefly trained at the Desa Tasik Sports Complex. But when restrictions became tighter, she could no longer use the gym and was forced to train at her apartment. So in September last year, we offered her to stay at my in-law's house in Melaka as it was vacant.
"We helped her move the necessary equipment into the place (Melaka) for her to train.
"In May, she went for the Olympic qualifiers in Uzbekistan.
She then returned to Melaka and continued to train there until the Tokyo Games started. I sent her to the airport last week (to board a flight to Tokyo)."
Janius disclosed that Hidilyn plans to return to Melaka to train for the World Championships in Peru in November, and possibly stay on until the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
National Sports Council (NSC) athletes' division director Jefri Ngadirin said the NSC had also facilitated Hidilyn's vaccination in Malaysia. "We helped arrange for her vaccination, and she was able to receive the required two doses (Oxford-Astrazeneca)."