Margie Didal: A carpenter's daughter on a mission
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 31 Aug 2018
Margie Didal (C) wins gold in Jakarta.
Margie Didal is a girl on a mission.
The 19-yeare-old daughter of a carpenter father and street hawker mother in Lahug, Cebu had wished her sport she has been hooked to for seven years --skateboarding ? will catch the imagination of leaders as a legit discipline worth becoming a source of pride for the country in the international arenas.
Her wish looked to have been granted on Wednesday when she ruled the women?s skateboarding street event at the JSC Skateboard Stadium in Palembang, Indonesia, site of several events in the calendar of the on-going 18th Asian Games.
Showing versatility in doing tricks and heart-rending acrobatic moves while weaving through ramps, stairs, and railings she learned while competing in X-Games overseas, including the 2018 Street League Skateboarding Open in London only last May, Didal gifted the national delegation its fourth gold medal tying its predecessors? feat 12 years ago in Doha, Qatar.
?Sana mag-iba tingin ng tao sa skateboarding (I hope my gold medal victory could change the perception of the public on skateboarding),? Margie said in overseas telephone interview with this writer after her win, which, likewise, surpassed the three gold medal haul in the 2002 national contingent in Busan, South Korea.
?Babaguhin natin ?yung (pagtingin sa) laro. Need natin ng support nila. Sana 'wag na tayo hulihin sa daan (We?ll change the perception. We need their support. I hope they don?t arrest us on the streets),? Didal said in reference to apprehensions by authorities when they see them practicing their sport on public places.
?Siguro kailangan magtayo ng skateboarding center para hindi delikadong maglaro (we need to build skateboarding centers so as not to endanger the lives of those who will be involved in the sport),? she suggested.
Didal, who learned the rudiments of the sport while helping her mom sell 'kwekkwek' near the Concave Skate Park in Lahug, said her exposure in the X-Games as well as the 2018 Street League Skateboarding Open in London gave her a much-needed confidence leading up to the Asiad.
?Biggest skateboarding event in the world ?yun eh,? Margie, referring to the London meet.
The product of Lahug Night High School in Cebu City said she hopes her Asiad victory will raise the profile of skateboarding as a legit sport in the same way that Efren 'Bata' Reyes and other Filipono cue artists changed people's mind on billiards in the lives of its practitioners as well as the honors the sport can bring to the country.
Didal added her feat is timely for sports leaders and fans to consider the sport since skateboarding is now part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games calendar.
Didal said skateboarding could be fun even in the heat of competition.
?Enjoy lang, kulit kulit lang. Wag isipin ang kaba. Wag isipin ?yung event, ineenjoy lang (just enjoy it, don?t think of the danger),? she advised.
Didal, the fourth among five children who stands to receive incentives amounting to P6 million from the government and private sponsors, said she will give her rewards her family to start as more progressive business.
?Mag-reserba rin ako para sa paghahanda sa Olympics na sasalihan ko at sa SEA Games kung masasama ang skateboarding (I will also reserve some fo rmy Olympic training and for SEA Games if the event is included),? Margie assured.
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