Mexico's first figure skater to participate in the Winter Olympics: I realized the mexican dream

An imperfect free skating show is completed, Donovan Carrillo bows to the stands on all sides, and then the first Mexican athlete to participate in a figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics leans down and touches the five-ring logo on the ice surface of the Capital Stadium – at this moment on the morning of February 10, 2022, will the 22-year-old Carrillo remember that afternoon 14 years ago, the "love at first sight" that changed his fate?

It is not hard to chase dreams

When Carvalho was 8 years old, his sister pestered her parents to learn figure skating because of a movie, "My parents agreed, and found her a coach, I was practicing gymnastics and diving, but one day I went to see my sister train, and then I also wanted to practice figure skating." 」 Carrillo gave a more specific reason, "Because I fell in love at first sight with a girl who practiced figure skating!" ”

Two years later, the girl who "fell in love at first sight" gave up her dream on ice, and her sister had switched to roller skating, only Carrillo regarded figure skating as "the love of a lifetime", in his own words, like "the fish found the ocean", and his coach also told Carrillo's parents, "This is a gifted child".

In low-latitude Mexico, figure skating and even all winter sports are unpopular events, and people's enthusiasm is often left to the green field. Carrillo said bluntly that his figure skating dream road is particularly difficult. At first, Carrillo lived with his parents in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city, but when he was 13, the only ice rink in town closed — did he give up figure skating or leave his hometown and move with his coach? "It was tough, but for the sake of my dreams, I chose to leave my parents, and they were very supportive of me."

Figure skating in Mexico has a low profile, Carrillo is difficult to get financial support from local companies, he told the Beijing Daily client reporter, there are some Mexican companies will provide him with in-kind sponsorship, parents, coaches and relatives and friends have also raised donations for him, for a long time, he can only afford to go abroad once a year. As he recounted the experience, Carrillo still had a smile on his face and told reporters in particular: "This is really not a sad story. ”

It is gold that always shines. Since 2017, Carrillo has advanced to the final in a number of junior competitions. In 2019 and 2020, the IOC and the Mexican government began providing him with financial support to help him compete abroad and participate in high-level training, and finally got the opportunity to participate in the Winter Olympics.

The dream of participating in the Winter Olympics came true

As early as 2017, Carrillo took advantage of the opportunity to participate in the competition to come to Beijing, the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which is his dream place. When he recalled the experience with the Beijing Daily client reporter, he was still very excited: "I saw some gymnasiums and dreamed of representing Mexico in the Winter Olympics here. ”

After 5 years, the dream came true. At the opening ceremony on the evening of February 4, Carrillo, as the flag bearer of the Mexican sports delegation, flew the flag with alpine skier Sarah Schleppel. On February 8, in the figure skating men's singles short program competition, Carrillo played steadily, ranking 19th out of 30 players, and was given the opportunity to participate in free skating. On February 10, Carrillo showed himself on the ice at the Capital Stadium – although half of his 12 scoring moves were markedly wrong and he ended up in 22nd place, but from the beginning of the game to the time he saw his score, a smile hung on his face.

"I made some mistakes in the game but still enjoyed it very much, I heard the applause from the audience and I hope they are happy too!" Carrillo said that every moment he came to Beijing for the Winter Olympics was happy for him, "I came here to realize the dream of Mexicans, to compete with the highest level of figure skaters." ”

Carrillo told reporters that since he had never competed in a venue as large as the first body and such a well-equipped venue, he adapted to the venue several days in advance, "I practiced my free skating program several times on the training ground and the competition venue, mexico does not have such a great ice rink, and I really dreamed of playing here!" ”

Participating in the opening ceremony as a flag bearer, revealing the results of the short program, and touching the Olympic rings after free skating - these are the three unforgettable moments of Carrillo's trip to the Winter Olympics in his heart, he revealed to the Beijing Daily client reporter that the night after the short program competition, his social media account received countless messages from Mexicans, "They congratulated me, and many people also said that my experience gave them motivation to pursue their dreams." Of course, I also hope that I can encourage more Mexicans to participate in ice and snow sports. ”

Carrillo also told reporters that the girl who had attracted her to the ice rink and had not been in touch for many years also sent him a message, "She said congratulations and things like that, now she is a model, we already live in different cities." Carrill said shyly.