Four Olympians becoming millionaires is kicking up a storm. It seems everybody wants to be in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
I kid you not.
A friend of mine sent me a message on Viber:
“I have just ordered my training paraphernalia from Lazada,” he said. “Two pairs of boxing gloves. Two punching bags. A pair of skipping ropes. In these uncertain times, better to be more than less in ammunition.”
Another Viber message read:
“I used to do it,” he said. “And the will to win has come alive again. I have started training. With lockdowns in force, my workouts are done indoors. While I await the arrival of four sacks of 50-kilogram rice, been lifting pails and pails of water.”
And, finally, from my neighbor:
“I have three years to prepare for Paris 2024,” he said. “As one of our Olympians said, ‘Nothing is impossible.’”
Look what you’ve done, Hidilyn “Nothing is Impossible” Diaz. Your weightlifting gold in Tokyo 2020 is driving almost everybody nuts.
I can’t blame you. Who doesn’t want to follow in your footsteps?
Your story is the motherhood of success. From agony to ecstasy. From utter want to sheer plenty. From penniless to wads of bills.
“If she can do it, I can do it, too,” said the taho (tofu pudding) vendor plying his trade every single day in the village.
Easy, easy, fellas.
You need to invest practically a lifetime to do another Hidilyn Diaz act.
She needed 13 years and four Olympic Games to win her cash-laden gold on July 26 in Tokyo. It was no easy feat, her path to glory paved with thorns that one with a feeble heart would have quit just as fast.
Same with our boxing silver winners Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, and boxing bronze medalist Eumir Marcial.
They needed no less than a decade of sacrifices and self-deprivation before finally achieving Olympic triumphs. When it came, success tasted sweeter than wine, netting them millions beyond their wildest dreams.
But still, no, don’t do it, good neighbor, Viber mates and much-valued taho vendor. It’s not that easy as you think.
Stay at home. The Olympics is no joke. Cancel your Lazada orders. Stress, boxing and lifting can weaken your resistance. You aren’t spring chicken, anymore. So, go, get some more sleep. In case you’ve forgotten, the Delta variant is for real.
No kidding.