Mexico has seedbeds of talent in different sports disciplines; in some of them it excels, and in others, development simply continues, but not all athletes have the possibility of transcending in Olympic Games.
Some national athletes who were shaping up to have a successful career did not take off, either due to lack of resources, administrative problems or simply because somewhere else they were offered better conditions to live and develop in the sport.
In some disciplines like Diving, taekwondo or archery there is stiff competition in Mexico; there is so much talent that it is difficult to support everyone and that is why many athletes look to other nations for the necessary conditions to be able to continue in their discipline.
Others have chosen to compete in another country, simply because conditions were better and competition is less in that federation. No matter what the case is, Mexico has lost different athletes and many of them have been successful with the countries that decided to support them.
These are some tricolor athletes that They decided to stop competing for Mexico and wear the colors of another country in the Olympic Games:
Kevin Chavez
Kevin Chávez was one of the great promises of diving in Mexico, He was born on July 9, 1991 in Mexico City and his specialty was the 1 meter trampoline.
In 2013, he surprised everyone by win bronze at the Barcelona World Cup, so it was expected to complete the Olympic cycle to be one of the great hopes of a medal for the tricolor nation.
But the injuries came, and two years after winning the bronze, Kevin Chávez thought about retiring due to a knee ailment, but the coach Salvador Nephew he was in Australia and invited him to recuperate.
Once he received the proper treatment, Kevin Chávez regained part of his level, at the Australian Swimming Federation liked how he trained and invited him to be part of the diving team to compete in Rio 2016.
For the Rio Games, Kevin Chávez competed on the 3-meter springboard, however, he came in 26th place.
Jonathan Ruvalcaba
Jonathan Ruvalcaba was a diver who aspired to have great performances with Mexico and he demonstrated it by obtaining a place on a 10-meter platform to Rio 2016, in addition to a bronze in synchronized springboard with Rommel pacheco in the Shenzhen Universiade in 2011 and silver in the Central American Games of Veracruz 2014.
Despite this, the Mexican Swimming Federation decided to leave it out of the selective, which is why Jonathan tried by all means to attend the Olympic joust on another front.
While training in Guanajuato with Paco Rueda, Jonathan met a young Dominican diver named Frandiel Gómez, who put the idea of emigrating to Dominican Republic and to be able to look for an Olympic ticket.
In this way, Ruvalcaba agreed to change his nationality, focused on the 3-meter springboard and got his Olympic ticket to Tokyo 2020, where he will look for a medal for the nation that decided to shelter him.
Jacqueline Galloway
Jackie has dual citizenship, and although she tried to stay on the Mexican taekwondo team, she failed, so decided to return to the United States and represent that country.
The Mexican American rose quickly in level, winning gold at the Grand Prix of Astana and Samsun, in addition to hanging the gold medal in the Pan American Games in Toronto 2016.
He managed to qualify for Rio 2016, where he won the bronze in the category of +67 kg and now goes for a new medal at Tokyo 2020.
Gabriela bayardo
The Mexican archer competed for Mexico in Rio 2016, And although she didn’t get a medal, it was a great experience and she was looking to be the next Olympic medalist.
But beyond having a problem with a federation, lack of support or other reason, Gaby decided to change her nationality and is now part of the Netherlands recurve archery team.
The culprit of this is her boyfriend, Mike Schloesser, who invited her to live in Europe and that is where she made the decision, besides that the Netherlands Archery Federation saw a unique opportunity to have one of the best classified in the world. In Tokyo 2020, Ballardo is one of the favorites to hang a medal.
Paola Pliego (a special case)
The Mexican fencer was accused of having tested positive for an anti-doping test made by CONADE, when the Rio 2016 Olympic Games were approaching and she was on the team that would attend, so this accusation left her out of the competition.
Paola Pliego argued that she never used Modafinil, a substance that is prohibited. He asked the authorities for help, from Alfredo Castillo, who at that time was in charge of CONADE, to Ana Guevara, but he never got a positive response.
A second analysis done in Germany determined that Paola Pliego was clean, But it was already 2017 and the Olympic Games had passed, so Paola decided to opt for a nation that invited her to be part of its team in 2019, in addition to supporting it financially: Uzbekistan.
In addition, Paola Pliego won a court ruling and CONADE had to pay around 15 million pesos for damage to the fencer’s career. For Tokyo 2020 he failed to qualify.
Other Mexican athletes who have left their nationality to compete for another country are:
- Damian Villa (United States, taekwondo)
- Linda Ochoa (United States, compound archery)
- Alberto Michán (Israel, equestrian)
- Paulina Armería (Italy, taekwondo)
