Consecration days for Team ParaChile at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. To the silver added on Sunday by the swimmer Alberto Abarza, who already had a gold, at midnight on Sunday in our country, and on Monday in Japan, two more medals were added.
One of them was nothing more and nothing less than another golden one. Francisca Mardones, who arrived as a firm candidate for the title, met expectations and was consecrated in the shot put, moreover breaking her own world record, with 8.33 meters.
After a while, Mariana Zúñiga, who was not among the favorites, hung the silver medal in archery. At just 19 years old, she fell in a heart attack final against Britain’s Phoebe Paterson, 134-133.
Thus, the national delegation already accumulates four podiums in the Tokyo event, with two first places and two seconds. And all with only 1% of the budget for Creole sports, which although it has been growing, is still a tiny portion of the total considering the results obtained.
1% of Paralympians
Crossing data, the annual budget of the Ministry of Sports amounts to about 200 million dollars. Of these, around 1,500 million pesos, that is, almost two million US currency, go to the Paralympic Committee.
The latter is a new body, which only turned eight years old on August 20, just before the start of Tokyo 2020. In this period, with the collaboration of the different governments, resources have been increasing, as Copachi began receiving approximately 300 million of the national currency, that is, a fifth of the current amount.
That rebirth came after a dark period, which ended with the then Paralympic Federation disaffiliated from the Coch in 2012 due to financial problems. The reins were taken by the incumbent president, Ricardo Elizalde, who was generating trust with the authorities to attract investment.
In fact, the Paralympic Training Center is being built today. Despite the progress, in the Ministry of Education they assume that 1% of the total money is scarce, which caused a march of the Paralympic athletes in 2019, so they intend to increase them.
“I am extremely proud of the historic performance of our Team ParaChile. And it is something that goes beyond the medals and the great results obtained, it is seeing them fulfill their dreams and compete as equals with the best in the world ”, says Minister Cecilia Pérez. “This delegation gives us a very valuable life lesson, and I am sure that the names of Francisca Mardones, Alberto Abarza, Mariana Zúñiga and so many others will be forever in the memory and in the gallery of great triumphs of our country,” he adds. .
Sports prioritization
As the resources, although they have grown, are always scarce, in Copachi they have prioritized those disciplines where Chile can have an international representation. Thus, four were defined: powerlifting, athletics, swimming and table tennis.
The strategy has been successful, as the medals have been arriving, first in the Parapan-Americans and now in the Paralympics. It went from one gold in Guadalajara 2011 to four in Toronto 2015 and 10 in Lima 2019.
“A base is given to all those who work together with us and from there, depending on the requirements and needs of each one, this prioritization system is given,” explains Manuel Silva, sports director of the organization. “A high-performance athlete, with projection, clearly needs some concentration, more skills or to complete a route for the Games. Everyone is given a certain job, according to their level and development ”, he complements.
Of course, the other specialties have not been left aside, as happened with Mariana Zúñiga in archery. She was discovered by her federation and then the Committee accompanied her in the process, so that she did not get lost along the way.
Currently around 20 sports are being worked on, among which is archery a couple of years ago. “By researching this talent that is Mariana, we began to generate instances of competition and favor the implementation of sports. The arc with which he is shooting was our management in 2020 ”, Silva closes.
The prioritization has hit the mark.
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