Wrestlers break 28 years of absence from the Olympics; They achieve two places in Paris
Adriana Diaz Reyes
Sent
La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday March 2, 2024, p. a10
Acapulco, Gro., Mexican wrestling broke a 28-year drought in the freestyle category and achieved two places for Paris 2024 in the Pre-Olympic tournament that concluded yesterday in Acapulco.
Guillermo Bravo (57 kilograms) and Austin Gómez (65) qualified for the summer event by beating Óscar Tigreros of Colombia (14-4) and Maurice Lachlan (6-2) of Canada, respectively.
Although I was born in the United States, I decided to represent Mexico because my grandparents instilled in me to be proud of my roots and my customs. Since I was little I always dreamed of this and I knew that one day I was going to achieve it, said Austin, who coaches at Michigan.
Since the 1996 Atlanta edition when Felipe Guzmán, Víctor Rodríguez and Filiberto Fernández represented our country, Mexico had not had representation in this modality.
It is my dream for people to know where my family comes from, I want to do well and I believe I can achieve it because I have great coaches who will guide me to success. Although I have dual nationality, I always knew that the flag I wanted to compete for was green, white and red, Bravo shared.
Although they were both born and train in the United States, they are proud to represent our country.
I feel very happy for what I achieved. The next few months I am going to train hard to fight for a medal, that is the message I want to give to all Mexicans, that it is always possible if you don’t lower your head and pursue your goals, he concluded.
Both gladiators were relentless in their combats held at the Expo Acapulco facilities. Although their opponents tried to react in the second period of their fights, they were unable to catch up to the hosts, who were supported by the public in the stands.
I had a knee injury and I was able to recover, I am back and motivated for this place. Paris awaits me, said Gómez.
The last opportunity for Mexico to obtain wrestling spots will be the World Championships to be held in Turkey in May.
Let’s hope that at least we can get a couple more tickets and thus bring a larger delegation, shared Guillermo Díaz, president of the Mexican Wrestling Federation.
The next few months will have training in Mexico, as well as high altitude camps outside the country. We are going to support them in everything they need. What they achieved is something historic and the opportunity they have to compete for the country should not be wasted, Díaz concluded.
2024-03-02 08:21:24
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