▲ The watch of the historic Olympic medalist no longer registers his times on the slopes, but those of new talents with whom he seeks to return Mexico to the elite of this sport.Photo Roberto García Ortiz
Erendira Palma Hernández
Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, August 13, 2023, p. a10
Resisting is the requirement in the march. The step can be lighter than in speed competitions, it requires rhythm, not falling into haste, dosing the energy and holding on to the finish line after several hours of walking. Completing two tests in the Olympic Games? Impossible, was the response of some, but not of Raúl González, who accomplished the unthinkable on the circuits and now has another desire: to promote a resurgence of this sport in Mexico.
There is a stagnation in progress, many countries have evolved; On the other hand, in Mexico we continue to see things from an amateur point of view, we cannot compete with those who do it professionally, González told The Conference.
Jala bastard, first dead before going back, was the phrase that fueled him in his competitions to speed up the pace and resist until the final line. Thus he won two medals in the same summer joust and was part of a golden generation of tricolor walkers.
new stage
In a new stage, it has returned to the Mexican Olympic Sports Center. He is no longer in a hurry on the synthetic track; in his footsteps there are still traces of speed, but with a more relaxed pace. He has now gone from athlete to coach, just at a time when Mexico seemed banished from a sport in which he was a power.
History recognizes González as the first athlete to stand on the podium in two walking events in the Olympic Games, winning silver in the 20 kilometers and a few days later gold in the 50 with a summer record in Los Angeles 1984. An achievement who turned 39 on August 11.
It was the pinnacle for Mexico in this discipline, where it has won 10 Olympic medals, nine of them between Mexico 1968 and Sydney 2000 with athletes like Ernesto Canto, Carlos Mercenario, Daniel Bautista and Noe Hernández. However, at the beginning of the century, the march was in decline until Guadalupe González reappeared on the podium at Rio 2016 with silver.
The reasons for this debacle are explained by González: the entire scheme with which this discipline was developed in Mexico was dismantled, this pulverization of efforts and disunity means that there are only isolated results.
If four decades ago Mexico was the forerunner of high altitude camps for walkers with the Polish coach Jerzy Hausleber and the doctor Salvador Garayzar, who worked exclusively with González, now it is difficult to cover this fundamental requirement in the training of this sport. .
José Luis Doctor and Alejandra Ortega, champions in the 20 kilometers at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, as well as José Leyver -González’s pupils-, will have to do without a high-altitude camp in Bolivia that they had scheduled for before the World Athletics Championships. The cause was the lack of resources for the trip.
row against current
It has been very difficult, we have rowed against the current, but it does not make us sad, it only makes it more difficult for us. We had scheduled that stay in Bolivia, we will seek to replace it before going to the Pan American Games in Santiago 2023, warns the now coach.
It is at this point in the conversation when another pointing to the sports organization is born. González’s transcendence was not only on the tracks or on the road; the foundations of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (Conade) were laid out under his charge as the first director of the institution. No one understands better than he the primary goals he should have.
–What was Conade’s philosophy when it was created in 1988?
–The reason for being was the athlete. From my experience and knowledge, not only administrative and technical, I knew that the most important thing was support for work plans, supported by scientific and multidisciplinary support.
Do you think they are fulfilled now?
–We are in a difficult moment, he answers measuredly.
I think there are many flaws, although we are not here to point out just that, we would like things to be different, but if there is no leadership that understands it, it will hardly change. It is complex, he points out, especially due to the distancing of the Conade with some athletes.
As in the march, now González must apply the maxims of this discipline, but outside of a walking route. He must do it in the organization, programming and training of his students.
The resistance not to fall, despite the lack of financing. José Luis Doctor already had experience, before Tokyo 2020 he was among the top eight in the country, however, he had no way to support himself and had to look for work. I convinced him not to retire, he reveals.
Maintain the rhythm, even with external pressures. If they could not go to Bolivia to comply with the required camp, they have replaced it with training in the Valle de las Navajas, at the Otomí Ceremonial Center, although the height of 3,200 meters above sea level is still far from 3 1,600 from the South American country.
The dosage of energy is no longer for a competition. If the purpose is to take his three pupils to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, he must comply with at least two highly demanding tests this year: the World Athletics Championships -to be held from August 19 to 27 in Budapest-, as well as the Pan American Games in Santiago –from October 20 to November 5–.
“The march requires athletes who aspire to important achievements, which is why it deserves total dedication, in addition to many qualities. It is a very demanding discipline, you work 24 hours. José Luis Doctor, Alejandra Ortega and José Leyver are not newbies.
We expect good results in the World Cup, that they finish in the top 10. We do not ring bells, but that is the expectation, he points out regarding the first step for the greater commitment in Paris 2024.
The phrase pull bastard, dead first to get behind also revives in González’s goal; however, it is no longer to individually achieve a physical goal. Now it is to promote a generation that materializes the resurgence of the Mexican march.
2023-08-13 10:03:19
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