Jimu news reporter Sun Zhe
"They say I should play football, they say figure skating is a girl's game, they say there is no market for winter sports in Guadalajara."
The man who said this was Donovan Carrillo, a figure skater, and the above-mentioned Guadalajara is his hometown, which is also the second largest city in Mexico.
The figure skater from Mexico scored 79.69 points in the figure skating men's singles short program competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics on the 8th, setting a new personal season best. If you know his story, you'll be amazed at how hard it was to come by.
Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo (center) (Source: Associated Press)
Don't be afraid of dreams being ridiculed
The Associated Press noted in the report that at the Winter Olympics, Carrillo's rear outer point ice four-week jump and Axel's three-week jump were completed smoothly and impressively.
"As Mexico's first figure skater to compete in the Winter Olympics in 30 years, Carrillo has successfully written his story at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and those objections have never stopped him from moving forward." The reporter wrote.
Carrillo told reporters that the opportunity to stand on the Olympic field has been his dream for many years, "It really motivates me to do my best, I have told some people about my Olympic dream, but they always laugh at me, 'Mexicans are not going to qualify for the Olympics.'" ’”
Why? Because in their view, Mexico has neither "ice and snow resources" nor ice and snow culture.
Mexico's climate is complex and changeable, spanning tropical and subtropical regions, with mild plateaus all year round, with average temperatures of 10 to 26 °C; the northwest inland is continental; and the coastal and southeastern are flat tropical climates.
Such a climate dooms Mexico to be "out of touch" with ice and snow, and in addition, football is the most popular sport in the local area, so figure skating is not only less concerned in Mexico, but also has very few participants.
Carrillo also said that there are still certain cultural barriers to the promotion of figure skating in Mexico, "When I was a child, there were always some people around me who thought that figure skating was only suitable for women, and many classmates in school did not understand me, and even made fun of me, but I never thought like them, which is also the motivation I have been working hard to prove to everyone." ”
Share an ice rink with ice hockey players
In addition to the incomprehension of others, Carrillo has another problem in the training process, that is, the ice rink.
It is reported that there is no professional ice rink of the Winter Olympic Standard in Mexico, not only that, for an ice rink, Carrillo moved to Guanajuato with the coach at the age of 13 to train, because the ice rink in his hometown was closed.
In fact, training in Guanajuato was conducted on an ice rink in the Mayor shopping center in León. Carrillo told reporters that sometimes, people will ask him to turn off the music of figure skating; and sometimes, while practicing various movements, he has to carefully avoid children playing on the same ice rink; the most difficult thing is that sometimes he has to share an ice rink with ice hockey players.
Carrillo in the game (Source: Associated Press)
"Every Mexican figure skating coach's dream is that we can have good facilities so that athletes can train well in their home country without having to go abroad." Carrillo's coach said.
It is understood that some Mexican figure skaters have been trained in the United States and Canada in order to realize their dreams. But Carrillo chose to stay in Mexico.
Professor Brenda of Hofstra University in the United States told reporters that Mexico does not have a national professional sports league for winter sports, nor a competition system like the Collegiate Sports Federation, and Carrillo's debut at the Beijing Winter Olympics, which grew up in such an environment, is an encouragement to Mexico and other countries in Latin America to promote winter sports.
"I've been trying to convey Mexican culture with my performances." Carrillo said, "I had a very good time on the ice, I didn't want to stop at all, I wanted to keep sliding." ”
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