On Monday, Hidilyn Diaz picked up gold in the 55kg category in women’s weightlifting and set Olympic records for her clean-and-jerk and overall lift total.

The athlete and airwoman had been stranded in Malaysia since February last year, unable to return home due to the Covid-19 pandemic and forced to train without professional equipment for much of her Olympic run-in due to the closure of gyms and the movement control orders.

While under lockdown in Malaysia, she even had to train with makeshift equipment, and lifted water bottles tied to two ends of a stick because she could not get access to proper equipment.

“Perhaps no one knows that despite the success of the Philippine’s weightlifting champion, Hidilyn Diaz, who won the first gold for her country at the 2020 Olympic Games, Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, the Malaysian minister of health is one of the people who contributed to Diaz’s success,” Adham’s office said in a statement.

“Dr Adham is the person responsible for helping Diaz receive the AstraZeneca vaccine needed to qualify Diaz and her team to leave for Tokyo, Japan.”

The health minister was quick to approve the request from the Philippines’ ambassador to Malaysia, Charles C Jose, for Diaz and her coaches to be fully vaccinated in time for her to depart for the Olympic games, the ministry said.

Diaz also made waves at the Rio 2016 Games, when her silver in the 53kg category ended the country’s 20-year medal drought.