Skateboarder and Philippine pride Margielyn Didal was included in TIME Magazine’s annual list of the most influential teens in the world.
The 19-year-old skateboarder raised the Philippine flag high earlier this year by winning a gold medal in women’s street skateboarding competition at the Asian Games which was held in Indonesia.
Now, Didal is arousing the Pinoy pride once again by being one of the influential teens recognized by TIME Magazine after she made a “global impact through social media and overall ability to drive news”.
Didal spoke to TIME Magazine and said that her parents were her biggest motivators to achieve her outstanding feat.
She said that she started competing in local skateboarding competition even before she owned her skateboard. Didal said that her mother, a street vendor, and father, a carpenter, were against her decision to try out skateboarding but they eventually became supportive about it.
Now that she has a gold medal to her name, Didal said that her next goal is to secure another medal in the coming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s going to be the big goal in my life to get that gold medal. That medal would be the Philippines’ first Olympic gold and would help cement skateboarding’s status as a serious sport in the country. “I want to build a new generation of skaters for the future,” she said.
Other personalities included in the said list are actresses Millie Bobby Brown, Joey King, and Storm Reid, internet celebrity Danielle Bregoli, K-Pop group NCT Dream, and other teenage activists, public figures, and influencers.
You can read the full list by clicking here.
