RIO 2016 Olympians Hidilyn Diaz and Mary Joy Tabal are even more excited to eye for another Olympics berth as President Rodrigo Duterte recently assured his full support to the Filipino athletes’ bid in the quadriennial world sports spectacle set in Tokyo on July 24 to August 9, 2020.

The Chief Executive, in his speech during the recognition and awarding of cash incentives to the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games medalists on December 18 at the Rizal Hall of Malcañan Palace, said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) pledged P100 million for the training of athletes who will participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Diaz, 28, a native of Barangay Mampang, Zamboanga City, who recently nailed her first ever SEA Games gold medal recently, said having been invited by President Rodrigo Duterte in the Palace with an Order of Lapu-Lapu Kamagi medal, cash incentives and assured additional support for Tokyo Olympics gave athletes like her high morale.

“Alam naman natin, preparation is the key and to win in Olympics kailangan nating gumastos at mag-qualify. With the help of President Duterte lahat po kami ng Filipino athletes will do our best in Olympics,” the Olympics silver medalist told SunStar Davao via Facebook Messenger.

On her Facebook post Friday, December 22, the 2018 Asian Games champion expressed her gratitude to the President, saying that it is always an honor to salute him since Rio Olympics.

“Thank you for inviting us in Malacañan , giving us your time and standing for almost three hours to show and make us feel your support for the success of #SEAGames2019. You gave us the Lapu-Lapu Kamagi Award and giving the Filipino athletes a memorable moment in our life,” Diaz, who also brought home two bronzes from the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand in September 2020, wrote.

Cebu City’s Tabal, however, failed to join the recognition rites as she was down with fever.

But she is thankful that the President is all-out in his support to the athletes.

Though she said there’s two sides for this Olympic bid, one side is those who qualified already and are now on their way for training preparations and the other side is those athletes who are still trying to qualify just like her.

“If the Government wants to maximize this support, it would be the best if he can support these two sides. But then, we all know that President is backing and will back us all, this only motivates us to keep doing the best we can, for Olympics is Olympics and the honor to be able to represent the country in this stage is the greatest gift and achievement an athlete can have,” the 30th SEA Games women’s marathon silver medalist said in a separate chat.