Olympic Medalist Hidilyn Diaz officially joins UP Diliman faculty

Olympic Weightlifting gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz is set to join the University of the Philippines Diliman College of Human Kinetics (UP CHK) faculty, according to educator Manuel Noel Ferrer’s post on Wednesday.

The UP CHK College Executive Board met with Diaz in preparation for her teaching engagement at the university, discussing course guidelines and logistics. 

Her addition is part of the university’s continuing effort to integrate athletics into the institution and promote young athletes in collegiate sports.

“By mentoring young athletes and imparting the values inherent in the sport, Diaz pays forward the opportunities she received, cultivating a new generation of Filipino weightlifters equipped with resilience, discipline, and determination,” Ferrer said in his online post.

Diaz has hinted at the possibility of teaching at UP earlier last July after giving a talk at UP CHK, looking back at her historic 2020 Tokyo Olympic win.

“Masaya akong ibalita sa inyo na excited na ako sa posibilidad na magbahagi pa ako ng aking karanasan at mga natutunan at magturo dito sa inyong unibersidad. Sana matuloy ito,” she said in an interview via ABS-CBN last July 16.

Diaz set weightlifting records early in her career as a student at the Unibersidad de Zamboanga, including a silver and two gold medals in the Asian Youth/Junior Weightlifting Championship in South Korea.

The olympian won the gold medal for the Philippines in the women’s 55 kg category for weightlifting, also setting Olympic records for the 55 kg division clean and jerk.

“Excited akong magturo, at salamat sa UP sa pag welcome sa akin.  Masaya akong ishare ang mga nalalaman ko sa weightlifting, sa sports at sa buhay; at excited din akong matuto sa aking magiging estudyante at co-faculty members na tuturuan din daw akong mag pickleball at iba pang sport.” the olympian reportedly stated.