Sports
PH’s Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, coach Julius Naranjo are now engaged
The Philippines’ first-ever Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz went from a historic moment to a “magical moment” when her boyfriend and coach Julius Naranjo proposed marriage to her, to which she answered:
“It’s YES!”
Hidilyn announced their engagement on Saturday, October 16, which was held at Sheraton Hotel in Pasay City.
The weightlifting star’s announcement was coupled with a photo of herself, showing two golds: her Olympic medal and engagement ring.
“I’m grateful to God that He sent Julius into my life, he makes my life easy,” she wrote in the caption.
“Alam ng iba kung ano mga sinasakripisyo niya para maabot namin ang pangarap na Ginto sa Olympics together with #TeamHD, nung laro kinilig at masaya ako kasi siya mismo nagsabi God is the center of our relationship, kaya walang duda magYeYES ako dahil swerte ako may isang Julius [na] nagmamahal, nagintindi , at sumoporta sakin (Others know what he sacrificed for us to reach our dream of a gold medal in the Olympics together with Team HD. During the games, I felt tingly and happy because he himself said that God is the center of our relationship, so there’s no doubt that I will say YES because I’m lucky to have Julius who will love, understand, and support me),” she continued.
She also thanked those who helped her fiancé in his proposal for making her night a “meaningful” one.
Hidilyn and Julius have been in a relationship for over three years now. They met in 2017 at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Julius, meanwhile, also posted a photo of his fiancée on Instagram. With the photo being focused on Hidilyn’s medal and ring, one could notice that the jewelry has a tiny barbell on it.
“There’s a first for everything,” he said.
This “magical moment,” as Hidilyn described it, happened before they fly to Malacca, Malaysia for training to prepare for the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in December in Uzbekistan.
