Margielyn Arda Didal — INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Sidelined by a gimpy ankle over a yr in the past, Margielyn Didal stays a piece in progress so far as revitalizing her drive to maintain the Asian Video games (Asiad) title is anxious.
The fearless Cebuano skateboard warrior went below the knife to restore a fractured left foot, and is progressively working her approach again into the groove to be in tip-top kind to defend the ladies’s road occasion diadem.
“As of now, I’m nonetheless targeted on my restoration whereas constructing my confidence once more to get snug with my board,” stated Didal, designated because the nation’s feminine flag-bearer within the opening ceremony of the nineteenth Asiad right here at Hangzhou Olympic Sports activities Middle Stadium on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Didal, who arrived with the four-athlete skateboarding crew on Wednesday, damage her ankle badly throughout the Crimson Bull Skate Ranges final yr in Brazil.
Since then, it took a very long time earlier than Didal rode her board once more to jumpstart her bid within the continental meet that served because the springboard of her sudden rise to prominence again in 2018 in Indonesia.
“It was 11 months since I used to be compelled to cease. We skilled in Thailand earlier than coming right here, so we’ll see the way it feels,” stated Didal.
Didal’s gold contributed to that “ladies energy” within the 2018 Asian Video games the place Staff Philippines collected 4 golds, together with the person victories of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and golfer Yuka Saso, who additionally led the ladies’s crew to triumph together with Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go.
After Didal’s immediate fame got here within the Asiad, she turned a byword in Philippine skateboarding and pocketed two extra golds throughout the Philippine internet hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Video games held in Tagaytay Metropolis.
Didal joined Christiana Means as the primary Filipino ladies skateboarder to compete within the Road League Skateboarding Championships in 2019 Rio De Janeiro.
The whole lot appeared to work out simply wonderful with Didal carrying the nationwide colours once more within the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the place she positioned seventh total within the medal spherical earlier than tragedy struck final yr.
“My objective right here is to make the finals. From there, I’ll attempt to get to the rostrum,” promised Didal, who will see motion on Sept. 27.
