Filipina Olympic heroine Hidilyn Diaz continues to soar on cloud nine after her historic gold medal win in Tokyo, and is now topping off her well-deserved break with an engagement to her coach Julius Naranjo.

The couple announced their engagement on Saturday, October 16.

“I’m grateful to God that He sent Julius into my life, he makes my life easy. Alam ng iba kung ano mga sinasakripisyo niya para maabot namin ang pangarap na ginto sa Olympics together with Team HD,” Diaz said in an Instagram post.

“’Nung laro kinilig at masaya ako kasi siya mismo nagsabi God is the center of our relationship. Kaya walang duda magye-yes ako dahil swerte ako may isang Julius [na] nagmamahal, nag-intindi, at sumuporta sa’kin.”

(Others know how much he sacrificed for us to reach our dream gold medal in the Olympics together with Team HD. During the games, I got so happy because he himself said that God is the center of our relationship. So there’s no doubt I’d say yes because I’m lucky there is one Julius who loved, understood, and supported me.)

Naranjo, a Filipino-American with Japanese lineage, has been in Diaz’s corner since 2017, a year after she started her historic Olympic rise with a coveted silver finish in the 2016 Rio Games.

Together with fellow coach Gao Kaiwen, the 30-year-old retired weightlifter spent the initial pandemic lockdown with Diaz in Malaysia continuously training for the postponed Tokyo tilt, which ultimately ended a near-century old search for the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal.

Diaz and Naranjo, though, are expected to quickly get back to work as they’re both set to fly on Saturday to Malacca, Malaysia for training.

The 30-year-old weightlifting star is set to compete in the world championships in Uzbekistan on December 7 to 17. 

– Rappler.com