Margielyn Arda Didal (born April 19, 1999) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

professional street skateboarder who rose to fame when she competed in the

X Games Minneapolis 2018 X Games Minneapolis 2018 was an action sporting event that took place July 19–22, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin Count ...

and won a gold medal in the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

Early life and family

Margielyn Didal was born on April 19, 1999, in

Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

, Philippines to Lito and Julie Didal. Her father is a carpenter and her mother is a sidewalk vendor selling

kwek kwek Tokneneng or tukneneng is a tempura-like Filipino street food made by deep-frying orange batter covered hard-boiled chicken or duck eggs. A popular variation of tokneneng is ''kwek kwek''. ''Kwek kwek'' is traditionally made with quail eggs, w ...

. She is the fourth of five siblings.

Career

Early years

Didal started skateboarding with friends at the now-closed Concave Park in Cebu. When the park closed, she and her friends struggled to find a new place to skateboard. She has narrated how she and her friends were apprehended by police officers and security guards when they were caught practicing in the streets and in abandoned areas, as well as one account of being barred entry from a shopping mall due to her having a skateboard. Didal's parents were initially skeptical of Didal pursuing a career in skateboarding but later supported her decision. She approached Daniel Bautista, who would later be her coach in the 2018 Asian Games, and borrowed boards from Bautista's friends. Bautista said that Didal became better than boys in her area and he recognized her talent. In 2012, Didal started to compete in local tournaments in Cebu City, particularly those organized by Jeson L. Guardo of G-Concepts, in Barangay Tisa in Cebu City. Sometime in 2014, she injured her right arm, and in December of the same year she severely sprained her right ankle, her dominant foot. The effect of the latter injury lingered for some years. To manage the ankle sprain, Didal underwent months of therapy at Cardia Olympia and intense assessment at the Red Bull High Performance Training Center in Santa Monica, California in July 2019.

Street League Skateboarding

Didal would later compete in tournaments abroad and secure sponsors. She became the first Filipino skateboarder to compete in

Street League Skateboarding Street League Skateboarding (SLS) is an international skateboarding tournament series. The league features professional street skateboarders competing for the largest monetary prize in the history of skateboarding, and was founded by profession ...

when she participated in the SLS PRO Open in London, England on May 26, 2018. In the preliminary round, she finished fourth and advanced to the final round to finish eighth overall. Due to her performance in the SLS, a local wrote a letter to Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña asking him to build a skate park in the city. Osmeña responded that if Cebu City won the 2018 Philippine National Games, half of the prize money would be allotted for a sports and skating park at the South Road Properties. In the 2019 SLS World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Didal reached the semifinals, becoming the first representative of the Philippines to do so along with Christiana Means. Didal failed to advance to the finals, finishing 14th overall with 20 points.

X Games

Didal was invited to compete at the

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

, becoming the first competitor to formally represent the Philippines in the games. She participated in the 2018 X Games in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, in the United States.

2018 Asian Games

Didal competed for the Philippines in the women's street skateboarding event. She trained for two months in the United States prior to the event. Didal won the fourth gold for the Philippines at the 2018 Asian Games. In seven attempts, Didal accumulated 30.4 points to win the gold while silver medalist Isa Kaya of Japan and bronze medalist

Bunga Nyimas Bunga Nyimas Cinta (born 13 April 2006) is an Indonesian skateboarder who has competed in the Asian Games. She became the youngest medalist in the 2018 Asian Games at age 12 when she won bronze in the women's street event behind gold medalist Mar ...

of Indonesia accumulated 25 and 19.8 points respectively. She scored 14.2 points in her first two runs and garnered the most points in the fourth run, scoring 8.9 points by performing the backside 50/50, 360-degree flip out for the first time in a major competition. She earned the most points in the women's street park event. Following her achievement, she was named as the flag bearer of the Philippine delegation for the closing ceremony of the games. As a gold medalist in the Games she will be entitled to of bonuses, which she plans to use to help her family start a business. Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña reiterated earlier plans for his city saying that his sister has pledged a donation to build a skate park at the South Road Properties. As of January 2020, talks regarding the possible construction of the skate park are still being held.

National Championship

Didal participated in the inaugural Philippine National Skateboarding Championship held in

Santa Rosa, Laguna Santa Rosa, officially the City of Santa Rosa ( fil, Lungsod ng Santa Rosa), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Laguna (province), Laguna, Philippines. ...

in July 2019, where she won the gold medal for the women's street event.

South East Asian Games

During the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

, Didal won two gold medals in women's Game of Skate and street skateboarding.

2020 Tampa Pro Womens Open Finals

Didal finished 3rd at the 2020 Tampa Pro Women's Open Finals in Florida.

2020 Summer Olympics

Didal qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, where

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...

made its Olympic debut. Competing in the women's street event, Didal advanced to the finals, placing 7th. Didal had her own custom skate park built in Soul Sierra, Cebu City. It first opened in early 2021 and became the training venue of the Philippine national skateboarding team, including herself.

2022 Red Bull Skate Level

In October 2022, Didal competed at the Red Bull Skate Level. However she sustained a fractured left ankle and undergo surgery. Consequentially, she missed two qualifying events for the 2024 Summer Olympics as well. By July 2023, she has recovered enough to be able to perform a 360 flip.

2022 Asian Games

Didal returns to the Asian Games in the 2022 edition in Guangzhou, China to defend her title in street after being sidelined for around 11 months. She was able to advance to the final round of the women's street event of the games postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A hobbling Didal finished last among eight skaters in the final, unable to finish the last three of five tricks

Other recognitions

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine included Didal in its list of "25 Most Influential Teens of 2018," recognizing her feat in winning a gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games, which it said would "cement skateboarding's status as a serious sport" in the Philippines. Didal was also given the Asia Skater of the Year award for 2020.

Personal life

Didal is a member of the LGBT community, saying in an interview with ABS-CBN that her parents accept her identity. She has a girlfriend, named Jozel, with whom she has been in a relationship for eight years as of February 2023. In February 2023, the two got

engaged An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

. Aside from her coach, Bautista, Didal also looks up to Hong Kong national team coach Warren Stuart, who is also one of her sponsors, and Brian Siswojo of the 8Five2 skateshop as her inspiration in skateboarding.

In popular culture

Didal's life story was dramatized in an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

of ''

Maalaala Mo Kaya ''Maalaala Mo Kaya'' (; formerly written as ''Maala-ala Mo Kaya...''; abbreviated as ''MMK''), also known as ''Memories'', is a Philippines, Philippine television drama anthology show broadcast by Kapamilya Channel under ABS-CBN Entertainment. ...

'', a drama anthology series, aired in 2018 on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

. She was portrayed by

Elisse Joson Maria Chriselle Elisse Joson Diuco (born January 6, 1996), professionally known as Elisse Joson, is a Filipino actress, model, dancer and endorser. Personal life Elisse Joson was born in Balanga, Bataan, Philippines. She is the only daughter ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Didal, Margielyn 1999 births Living people Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Asian Games medalists in skateboarding Cebuano people Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Female skateboarders Filipino skateboarders Filipino LGBT sportspeople LGBT skateboarders Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Olympic skateboarders for the Philippines People from Cebu City People from Cebu Skateboarders at the 2018 Asian Games Skateboarders at the 2022 Asian Games Skateboarders at the 2020 Summer Olympics SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in skateboarding Sportspeople from Cebu City Visayan people X Games athletes 21st-century Filipino women