Overcoming Adversity: The Journey of Badminton Player Luis Ramón Garrido to Paris 2024

The story of badminton player Luis Ramón Garrido can be told from several aspects: the sports one, as the athlete who got a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, or like the young man who survived rhabdomyolysis, a disease that destroyed him from the inside and that almost took his life in 2016.

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The truth is that both stories shape the 28-year-old badminton player as two defining moments in his life. Resilience, typical of his sport, where he cannot give up a point for lost, have allowed him to forge a character that is proof of everything that finally led him to fulfill his dream of qualifying for his first Olympic Games. The disease and the eight knee surgeries he had to undergo to get there They are not left behind, but are part of what is.

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“Even though there have been eight knee surgeries and even though an illness almost took my life, we had to try one more time.. I tried, I started at 400 in the world before the Central American Games, and what happened was simply something historic, the truth is that I still can’t explain it. How I went from still having chronic pain last year to winning the Central Americansentering the Olympic Games, winning the first medal also in the history of Mexico in the Pan American Games is something difficult to explain,” says Ramón, in an interview with ESTO.

The price that a high-performance athlete has to pay

His words portray the maturity of someone who has lost everything. That boy who chose badminton over soccer, beyond the inheritance of his father, a professional soccer player, learned from beatings.

Ramón considers all of this as the price that had to be paid to achieve his objective. “This is high performance sport“As I have said and I will continue to say, if you have a dream, you have a goal, you have to be willing to pay the price and if you are not willing to pay the price, you are really not cut out for high performance.”

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Paris 2024 figures to be revenge, after having lost the opportunity to compete in Rio 2016 due to illness. Although he was reluctant to stop playing, there came a time when his body did not work and he had to seek help in Spain, after several failed diagnoses in Mexico. “Without a doubt it was the most difficult set of my life.The truth is that it is a quite painful process. Physically yes, quite a bit, but more mentally, being close to qualifying for Rio, at such a young age, a disease like rhabdomyolysis leaves me out, I was fighting for my life since January 2016“I tried to play for a few months, I did, but I aggravated the illness more.”

What is Rhabdomyolysis?

According to specialists, rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle tissues that releases a harmful protein into the blood. “I was suffering a lot, I lost a lot of weight, I lost muscle, my muscles were being destroyedI was releasing toxins, it was killing me inside, urinating blood every day, with kidney pain, kidney failure, so it was a very difficult time.”

Once Ramón overcame the illness, returning was just as complicated, especially because his body suffered it and He began to experience severe injuries to his knees that took him to the operating room up to eight times.

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“The return was very difficult, I was totally weak, very skinny, I had lost everything I had gained in all these years, I had to teach myself to play badminton again, because of how weak I was, because of all the damage I had had internally.. Then, in 2018, I completely tore my right knee, two ligaments, both menisci, the patellar tendon, it was a very hard blow. I recover after nine months, I return to training, I break down again, then the pandemic comes, I train again, I break down againthen it was already a martyrdom, I was suffering a lot with injuries, then I suffered another injury to my left knee.”

Luis Ramón Garrido will fulfill his dream in Paris 2024

Although several weeks have passed since the International federation confirmed the position of Luis Ramón Garrido for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the badminton player still doesn’t fully believe it. The fact that I qualified made all the sacrifice worth it.

“It is a dream come true. I feel too much happiness, it’s still a little difficult to explain what I feel right now, but I am very happy and very happy that I will be able to represent my country in the Olympic Games,” he said.

“I have a lot of mixed feelings, it has been a fairly long, tiring, painful process, especially when you look back. Everything I have had to go through is quite complicated, but I am very happy to be here”.

Garrido’s classification has overtones of feat. The Mexican had one year to add the most points in the world ranking. The frenetic nature of the tournaments and his good results allowed him to go from 400th place to 29th.. Along the way he achieved historic results.

“It was a chaotic year, is the word I would use, but the truth is I have enjoyed it a lot. An Olympic process to become the first Mexican in history to win the Central American Games, the first gold in singles, then fighting the Olympic process in between that July which was the Central American Games, then until October the Pan American Games, and then, well, getting on the podium as the first Mexican also in the modality, the truth is that it is something incredible, and well, now that the Olympic process has culminated I am classified for Paris, the truth is that I don’t think I even In my best dreams I dreamed of it this way, It is being quite difficult to process as I mentioned, but the truth is that I am very happy“explained the man from Monterrey.

You still don’t know what to expect from Paris 2024

The badminton player lets his imagination fly. Although a few years ago he had the opportunity to compete in the Youth Olympic Gamesknows that the experience will be totally different.

“I was in the Olympic Games, but when it comes to youth, there are big differences. I haven’t had time to imagine what it’s going to be like, being in the stadium, playing with an audience, facing the best players in the world, the opening on the Seine River“I still can’t get the idea of ​​all that,” he said.

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“The first thing is to focus on preparation, enjoy the moment a lot, they are the Olympic Games, they could be the first, they could be the last, we never know. I am enjoying all my people who have helped me get here and nothing, in Paris it is about enjoying and trying to give a historic result to my country.”

Winning the first Olympic match, Ramón Garrido’s goal

Although the medal will always be the dream of any athlete, badminton player Ramón Garrido faces Paris 2024 with his feet on the ground. The Mexican aims to achieve the first victory for a Mexican badminton player in the Olympic Gamesin a story that will continue the work carried out by Lino Muñoz, in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

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“What we as a team are preparing and getting psyched for is trying to win an Olympic match. Like I said, I like to dream, Who wouldn’t dream of an Olympic medal? But you have to dream with your feet on the ground, you have to know where you are located, know who you are, know who you fight with. The truth is that winning an Olympic average is a dream, it should be a dream, but it is a dream that seems unlikely, I’m not going to lie either, it seems very unlikely, but what does seem likely is to be able to win the first game in the history of Mexico In the Olympic Games, as in the women’s side, in the men’s side it has been possible to win, so, it is what we are going to opt for and it is what we are going to prepare for,” he said.

Luis Ramón Garrido and the team he will have for the Olympic Games

The Mexican, together with his multidisciplinary team, It has already planned its preparation for Paris 2024. Garrido plans to participate in the US Open, to be held from June 25 to 30, and then return to Monterrey, where he will seek to refine details for the Olympic debut.

“My Olympic camp is going to be in Monterrey, I’m going to be training there with Spanish and German sparring partners, a guy from El Salvador is going too. I have my entire multidisciplinary team already in Monterrey, in this Olympic process I was away from home for quite a while, I couldn’t be with my girlfriend, with my parents, with my brothers. I think that the best decision for me, as for my multidisciplinary team, having me close is much better, This way they help me much more in my planning, they can take care of you a little more and also the mood“Being close to the family helps a lot, we are practically going to be concentrated in Monterrey for two and a half months.”

A family dream

Driven by his family, Luis Ramón Garrido will seek to make history at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It is not a metaphorical question, but a reality. The badminton player has the support of his brotherswho are part of their multidisciplinary team.

“My older brother is a doctor in biomechanics and is my physical trainer, thanks to him I continue playing. My middle brother is an Olympic coach, He already attended Tokyo as a national badminton coach and well, he is still my coachSo, my family makes up my work team and the truth is it’s quite nice,” he acknowledges.

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His family not only supports him in sporting matters, but has been a fundamental pillar for Garrido to fulfill the Olympic dream, a shared dream. “This is a dream of mine, it is a dream that I have longed for since I was little, but also those of theirs, it is more theirs than mine, they have supported me in the most difficult moments of my life, they have been there when everything collapsed. Knowing that they are going to be seeing me in the Olympic stadium makes my skin crawl, I am very excited to know that they are going to be able to fulfill that dream of seeing me there as well.”

2024-05-21 00:56:30
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