Du Yang/China News Service via Getty Images and LISA MARIE DAVID/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
- A Filipino weightlifter has been promised another $42,000 and an extra house by the Philippines' president.
- Hidilyn Diaz had already been offered $660,000 and two houses after her stunning Olympic victory.
- The 30-year-old won the country's first ever Olympic gold medal in the women's 55 kilogram weightlifting.
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The Filipino weightlifter who won her country's first ever Olympic gold medal has been promised a further $42,000 and another free property in celebration of her victory.
Hidilyn Diaz was offered the extra cash and home in a call with the Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte, having already been promised $660,000 and two houses.
Duterte said the 30-year-old will receive a fully-furnished house in her hometown Zamboanga, and three million pesos ($42,000) as a reward for her efforts, according to Filipino news outlet ABS-CBN News.
-ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) July 28, 2021
The two spoke via video call on Wednesday, with Duterte's offer coming after the weightlifter had already been promised rewards by the government, Filipino Olympic authorities, and businesspeople.
Diaz was forced to spend seven months away from her family in the build-up to the tournament as she stuck to the strict COVID-19 restrictions in Malaysia, where she was training.
She did not even have access to her own gym and had to practice by tying heavy water bottles to bamboo poles.
Diaz went on to improve on her Rio 2016 silver with gold in Tokyo, doing so by lifting an Olympic record of 127 kilograms.
"We cannot express in words how much should be shouting hallelujah," Duterte said.
"I hope that the years of toil, years of disappointment are in the past, just forget them. You already have the gold. Gold is gold.
"It would be good for you to let bygones be bygones. Dwell solely on your victory with your family," Duterte added, seemingly referring to Diaz once being falsely accused of being part of a plot to overthrow the Filipino government.
Since winning gold, offers of payment and homes have been flooding in, with Diaz being entitled to guaranteed prize money owed to any Filipino athlete to win gold, a bounty previously unearned.
Bloomberg first reported that Diaz was set to receive $660,000 of incentives, as well as a luxury $280,000 condo in Eastwood City courtesy of Chinese Filipino billionaire Andrew Lim Tan.
Speaking after the win, Diaz said: "It's unbelievable, it's a dream come true.
"I want to say to the young generation in the Philippines: you can have this dream of gold too. This is how I started and finally I was able to do it.
"I'm looking forward to enjoying life because I have been in Malaysia for almost two years, so I'm really thankful I can go home now and celebrate with my family and the people who support me."