Four athletes are part of the Olympic Team that Mexico sent to compete at the Winter Olympic Games. Their names are the ice skater Donovan Carrillo, and the skiers Sarah Schleper, Rodolfo Roberto Dickson, and Jonathan Soto Moreno.
DONOVAN CARRILLO, THE ICE SKATER WHO KEEPS MAKING HISTORY
This young ice skater has had several achievements throughout his career. Training in the ice rinks of commercial malls since he was a kid due to insufficient support and infrastructure in Mexico.
Donovan Carrillo became famous due to his routines with the music of Juan Gabriel. He currently resides in Leon, Guanajuato to be close to his trainer, and with his support; his family, friends, and close people, Carrillo went to compete in different events.
He is the current National Champion, the only Mexican skater able to perform a triple axel; and the only one to ever attempt a quadruple jump. More historical achievements of this young ice skater are the fact that he was the first and is the only Mexican ice skater to ever advance to the final round of the World Championship.
Furthermore, his latest achievements first are his qualification to the Winter Olympics, for Mexico is the first time since 1992; that the country has representation in the discipline. He qualified for the semi-finals and competed there on Monday, where he finished 19th.
Moreover, this score consolidated him as one of the top 24 ice skaters in the world, and he will be part of the final round on Thursday, where he will fight to conquer the maximum dream of every athlete.
Carrillo finished his participation in the games today, leaving a valuable lesson for everyone, not just Mexicans, that regardless of the difficulties one might encounter to achieve our dreams; everything is possible if you want it and fight for it with all your strength.
SARAH SCHLEPER, THE FIRST WOMAN TO COMPETE IN SIX OLYMPIC GAMES
Married to a Mexican citizen, she decided to acquire the nationality in 2014. Schleper’s other nationality is from the United States and was also born in Glenwood Springs, Colorado on February 19, 1979.
Moreover, Schleper started her professional career as an alpine skier in 1995. She has been part of four Olympic Games, two with the US (2006, 2010) and after a retirement period from 2011 to 2014, she joined the Mexican Skying Team.
Schleper self-financiated her practices to qualify for the Winter Olympic Games in 2018, which she did alongside her teammate Rodolfo Dickinson. She started her competition a couple of days ago and is set to compete in her second round in hopes of achieving a medal.
RODOLFO ROBERTO DICKSON, AN ATHLETE FROM MEXICO AND CANADA
Rodolfo Roberto Dickson Sommers was born in Puerto Vallarta in 1997. When he was little, he lost his parents and was later adopted by a Canadian family. He has two nationalities, he is Mexican and Canadian.
Rodolfo preferred to represent Mexico, and both he and his adoptive parents have always expressed how proud they are to represent the country.
As Schleper he specialized in the alpine skiing discipline. In 2015, he entered the Super-G competition and won a gold medal. This made him the first Mexican to ever achieve a medal in an international skiing race.
Dickson has also made history for the reason mentioned above. He was also part of the Olympic Games in 2018, where he ended in the 48th position. Dickson is part of the Olympic Team and is set to compete in his event.
JONATHAN SOTO MORENO
He was born in Durango, Mexico in 1994, and moved to Minnesota when he was 12 years old. There Soto found his love for the snow and his skiing discipline. Soto practiced athletism in high school and started to represent Mexico in 2019.
His ticket to the Winter Olympic Games of Beijing came during the World Championship in 2021. After this, to be able to pay for his trip to China, he started a fund that accumulated 9,085 dollars.
Soto’s friends and family helped him economically to be able to reach the Olympic Games. He mentioned that during his High School years, a biology teacher made a recommendation to him to research the requirements to represent Mexico.
Soto will be the third Mexican to participate in this particular skiing event, joining the legendary names. The previous representatives of the country were Roberto Alvarez in Calgary 1988, and also Albertville 1992; and his trainer German Madrazo, who was part of the Games in 2018.
FINAL WISHES
The presence of all of them in the Games is a reason for motivation for the country. The four athletes have needed to overcome multiple obstacles to get where they are today. All of them proved to us that everything is possible regardless of the obstacles, that despite them we can go beyond.
That lesson is truly valuable because winter sports have even less support in Mexico than summer sports. The fact that the four of them trained and fought their way to get there to represent the country is tremendously valuable.
