Breathe
By Rosa Covarrubias
One of the most frequently asked questions to high performance athletes is who inspired you to be...?
The first answers tend to be mom, dad, sisters, brothers, etc. But when we enter the sports arena, that's when the answers vary.
More than 30 years ago, the source of inspiration for women who practiced sports were usually men: Hugo Sanchez, Jorge Campos, Fernando Valenzuela, Michael Jordan, Pippen, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Mark Spitz, Andre Agassi, added to a long list of etceteras, perhaps the few women who were named were those who practiced gymnastics and artistic swimming, for example, Nadia Comaneci.
But the history of role models in the female sports environment has taken a drastic turn, especially in recent years, although in a country with little sports culture like ours, the situation is going slowly, I would say, the role models are still mostly men.
A couple of months ago, I was invited to a university in the north of Mexico City to analyze the FIFA Women's World Cup.
I must admit that I got a little, or a lot, depressed. In that presentation, they showed a video made by Somos Versus in which elementary school children appeared, the exercise was to show them pictures of various athletes for them to recognize them, as expected, none of those children in the video could recognize female sports references, among them Martha, one of the best soccer players in history and who, fortunately, is still active.
We must also admit that the media and nowadays social networks are the main creators of idols in all senses, if you do not believe me, just go back a little more than 20 years in time, to the World Athletics Championships in Paris in 2003, where Ana Gabriela Guevara won the gold medal in the 400 meters.
Guevara was an icon and sports idol of the time, wherever she stopped she was stopped for photographs and autographs, getting interviews with her was complex and at the same time accessible. She put Mexico's name in the spotlight of athletics and for Athens 2004, the fans were more aware of her competition than any other. She was a reference, few people in Mexico were unaware of her name, where she came from and her outstanding sports career, largely because of what she did, but also because of the media momentum of the time.
Soraya Jiménez, Olympic champion in weightlifting was also a milestone, she was and still is an idol and a reference for hundreds of women who practice this sport in our country.
Maria del Rosario Espinoza, Nuria Diosdado, Paola Espinosa, Ale Orozco, Paola Longoria and more recently Diana Flores, have become an inspiration for women who practice the sports they practice or practiced. It is a source of pride to go to international competitions and to be a reference for girls and young women not only in Mexico.
Little by little the story has been changing and will surely continue to change. The new generations of girls no longer play so much to be Mbappé, Messi, Mahomes, Steph Curry, LebronJames, etc., girls now dream of being like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Ada Hegerberg, Marta, Christiane Endler, Simone Biles, Serena Williams, Catlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu and a long list of women who inspire and will continue to be inspirational throughout the years in sport.
In Mexico, specifically in Liga MX and the nascent Mexican Softball League, driven by the achievements of the last Olympic cycle and the development that is being sought for 2028, the discourse also continues to change. Katty Martínez, Jacqueline Ovalle, Blanca Felix, Jenni Hermoso, Mónica Ocampo, Karla Tellez, Yanina Treviño, Leannelys Zayas, Rossy Lizárraga, Claudia López, YiliánRondón, Yeraldine Carrión, are part of a generation that seeks to continue promoting professional women's sports and to close the gap so that future generations of girls can live one hundred percent from the sport.
They now inspire thousands of girls, young women and women around the world. The generations of 2014 and beyond will play at being...
And who inspires you?
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
Comments ()