Nine of the 13 athletes who represented Costa Rica in the last Olympic Games in Tokyo called on the political authorities to make a real commitment to the sport. This during a press conference organized by the National Olympic Committee this Thursday.
“It was demonstrated that we are worth in investment. The talent that was seen in the Olympic Games was very great and I hope that it motivates them to make real commitments ”, expressed the Olympic surfer Leilani McGonagle during her speech.
It is not the first time that the athlete expresses this thought. A few weeks ago when the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado, congratulated the Olympic athletes, both Leilani and Ignacio took the opportunity to make the president see the importance of supporting national sport.
For his part, Ignacio Sancho commented that as a result of the comment, there has already been an approach from the Cantonal Committee of Alajuela.
“We recently had a meeting where they told me about the project to build a gym that has the conditions for judo; However, I already know this story. It is not the first time they tell me, ”said the judoka.
Education versus sport
From another point of view, the Olympic swimmers Beatríz Padrón and Arnoldo Herrera, in an interview with this medium, recognized the difficult job it is to maintain an athlete career and be a student at the same time, particularly in public universities.
“I was at the National University and sometimes when I had to be absent due to a competition, some professors supported me but others did not, they got angry and did not accept the justification,” says Padrón, who has been awarded a sports scholarship from the University of Nebraska in the United States.
The athlete also established that without the support of her parents it would have been impossible to become an Olympic athlete: “My parents have made every effort to finance my going to compete, without them I would never be where I am and much less would have obtained this scholarship to go to study abroad ”.
Arnoldo Herrera studied at Northern Michigan University in the United States thanks to a sports scholarship. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Medical Device Engineering at TEC.
“The conditions when studying there are totally different, there is flexibility for one to do both. It is more like a pride to represent the university ”, he said.
Herrera also emphasized: “For me, support should be given to an athlete beforehand, not when they are already giving medals, so I think that the way scholarships are distributed should be changed, for example. In addition, the support should also be comprehensive, many times not only economic, “he said.
“The most important thing in a gymnast’s career are those early formative years. For this reason, it is of little use that the support reaches me until I am 16 years old and those who end up making the effort are the parents of the athletes, so if the family does not have the means, unfortunately the person has to leave the sport regardless of their talent, ”said Olympic gymnast Luciana Alvarado.
The athlete also expressed the need for a quality infrastructure that was available for the practice of sport for all gymnasts: “It would be nice a gym where we can all get to train no matter where we are from. In general, those of the national team each of us train in our gyms because they have the possibility, so it would be nice a place where people with less access could also train ”.
The mother and Olympic coach Dixiana Mena was emphatic in the importance of sports seedbeds, of believing in children and of encouraging sports from an early age.
“The spaces in which children can practice a sport are extremely important, whatever sport it is. We can’t say no. They said no to my daughters many times and they did not believe in them and they did not see the talent that was in them, we cannot close those doors, they are an example of that ”, Mena commented.
His daughter Noelia Vargas, an Olympic marcher, assured that these are the fruits of having started at such a young age.
“I am one of the smallest marchers and I am super happy because it is a reflection that it is super good to start so young.”
The president of the Olympic Committee, Henry Núñez, classified the Tokyo Olympic Games as the best participation of Costa Rica in the last 25 years.
After the press conference, Casa Presidencial announced the construction of an athletics track in Puriscal that adds to the plans that have been offered to Olympic athlete Kenneth Tencio for the construction of a park for BMX.
