Mexico's Sad Olympic History

Every four years, we have the opportunity to watch the world come together for a sporting event that represents and reflects the noblest part of the human spirit: overcoming obstacles. At the Olympic Games, the world's best athletes struggle against many obstacles in their respective disciplines: the difficulty of the events, the performance of the other competitors, their own performance and, sadly, as we have learned from the Mexican delegation at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, indifference, bureaucracy, and corruption as well. At these Olympics, Mexico won only five medals: three silver and two bronze. Of the 78 delegations that reached the podium, the country ranked 44th by total number of medals, regardless of color. Seven medals were won at London 2012, three at Beijing 2008, four at Athens 2004, and six at Sydney 2000. Mexico has consistently achieved poor results. Mexico's poor result at these Olympic Games has prompted a major national debate and even attracted attention outside the country. Many Mexicans feel disappointed and even offended by the poor results. It is true that athletes represent their countries and that watching the athletes who represent us triumph brings hope and excitement. Nevertheless, the first thing we must acknowledge is that Mexican athletes OWE US NOTHING. Although they went to represent the country, they reached that point on their own merits, not because the country turned them into the athletes they are, as one might argue happens in other nations. The true victims of these Olympic Games are the athletes themselves, who, after years of training, sacrifice, and effort, arrived to compete without adequate resources and, instead of finding the admiration and respect of their compatriots, found criticism, mockery, and indifference. There has been much discussion about why our delegation had such a poor Olympics. I have been reading extensively about the subject and have several ideas of my own, so below I present the specific reasons we must understand, accept, and resolve:

1.- Indifference

We Don't Care

Mexicans do not like sports. I repeat: Mexicans do not like sports—and I exclude myself—they like spectacle. That is why the only “sports” that generate interest in this country are soccer and professional wrestling. Both “sports” are really spectacles in which the winner has already been decided. I do not doubt that some soccer players may also be very good athletes, but someone who throws himself to the ground pretending to be injured when touched cannot call himself an athlete; he is more of a clown. And the ultimate purpose of these popular idols, their clubs, and the television networks that manage them is to sell advertising, sponsorships, and jerseys. These popular idols, who have already been caught using drugs and in the company of prostitutes, are not athletes. Since Mexicans do not like sports, it is logical that they are not interested in the Olympics, as reflected in a survey conducted by Parametría.

So, as we can see, more than half of Mexicans do not care about the Olympics, and the Mexican delegation's performance is not a source of national pride. Ah… but if it were the soccer World Cup, where Mexico always goes to make a fool of itself and where historically there have never been favorable results—finishing at least among the top three—then the vast majority of Mexicans would be interested and would eagerly follow the popular idols to watch them lose once again.

The Criticism

This country is, however, sadly infested with people who, from a position of ignorance and lack of empathy, are always quick to judge, criticize, and even mock the athletes. You know whom I mean: those rotten people who spent these Olympics attacking our athletes from their couches, without knowledge or experience, much less physical fitness, and who quite possibly did not even watch the competitions. Take the disgraceful attacks on Alexa Moreno, for example. This is a case that pains me just to think about. A 22-year-old woman was the only Mexican to qualify to represent Mexico in artistic gymnastics at these Olympics. After years of training and all the tremendous effort involved in becoming an Olympic athlete, she managed to rank 12th among the world's best in the vault. And what did Mexicans do? They criticized her body; on social media, they criticized her weight and attacked her for being fat. The ignorance of these people knows no bounds. Athletes do not reach the Olympics because they sign themselves up to go; they get there because they qualify. Depending on the sport, they must belong to federations, meet requirements, and participate in qualifying competitions, often in distant countries and often making tremendous sacrifices to secure the resources to attend, compete against the world's best, and qualify for the Olympics. So, addressing this plague of ignorant people, I can tell you that the girl you called fat has accomplished more in her short life than you, your children, and your grandchildren combined will ever accomplish. She is an elite athlete, one of the best in the world, who arrived at her Olympic Games full of hope only for you to insult her and tarnish what should have been an exciting and beautiful experience for her, to such a degree that, for now, she has no interest in participating in another Olympic Games. Perhaps she would win one or more gold medals for Mexico in four years, and you clipped her wings. In the following image, Alexa Moreno—whom these people called fat—appears on the left, and Simone Biles, the current gymnastics sensation who won four gold medals and one bronze at these Olympic Games, appears on the right. Can you explain to me why one is fat and the other is not?

An athlete like Alexa Moreno deserves admiration, and her greatest beauty lies in all the effort and dedication required to become number 12 in the world. It pains me so much to think about how she felt; it pains me so much to think about how her family and friends felt. What an ungrateful country. What a disgrace that this story gained international traction and that people in other countries saw what we Mexicans are like. And there were many more cases. On ESPN, where I followed the Olympics, I had to watch an ignorant “YouTuber” hired to “make jokes” during the broadcasts mock archer Alejandra Valencia, and a commentator criticize the remarks diver Paola Espinosa made in an interview after finishing fourth in the 10-meter platform. I saw newspapers mock the semifinal defeats of Mexican taekwondo athletes Itzel Manjarrez and Carlos Navarro. What a sad response from Mexicans.

Sponsorships

One of the greatest obstacles Mexican athletes face is a lack of resources. I am not even referring to CONADE (Comisión Nacional de Cultura Física y Deporte), COM (Comité Olímpico Mexicano), or each sport's federations. I mean the lack of money that would allow them to devote themselves completely to training. Many stories have come to light about Mexican athletes who hold jobs to support themselves and have to train after leaving work, many who have had to rely on their families, and many who receive support from the authorities that is so meager it is insufficient. Do you know how much Michael Phelps—swimming, United States—earned last year? Forty million dollars, roughly 800 million pesos. Athletes in other countries have sponsorships from brands such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, Speedo, Puma, and others. In addition to the financial support they receive and even the salaries some are paid, they earn income from sponsors. Sponsorship income is almost certainly the largest part of their earnings, and having money means having their needs covered. That translates into living without financial worry; devoting themselves completely to and concentrating on training; access to better coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, and psychologists; and all the equipment needed to train and recover. Look at this image: on the left, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte of the United States are immersed in ice before their competition in iCool Sport tubs. According to what I found on the supplier's website, the equipment shown in the photo costs $10,000. On the right, we see Mexican diver Rommel Pacheco using the basic equipment provided by the organizers.

Every point counts, and the equipment used makes a tremendous difference in recovery and performance. It cannot be easy for any Mexican athlete to obtain equipment that other athletes can afford through their income or even through sponsorships from the equipment suppliers themselves. So are the brands at fault for not wanting to sponsor our athletes? No. Sponsorships are intended to give a brand exposure, and Nike, Adidas, and others know that sponsoring a Mexican athlete would be throwing money away because, as we saw earlier, (1) Mexicans do not like sports and (2) they do not care about the Olympics. What those brands do instead is sponsor soccer teams, because Mexicans do like the circus.

2.- Bureaucracy

Poor Organization

To begin with, the president of CONADE is a man named Alfredo Castillo, who is neither an athlete nor has the credentials to promote sports nationally. He was imposed by Peña Nieto—according to what I have been reading, he is the utility man Peña Nieto sends everywhere—and not only has no idea what his job entails, but publicly gives voice to his ignorance and mediocrity by saying things such as that CONADE is simply a travel agency or that winning medals is not what matters. Good grief, someone should have told the gringos that this was not important, because the poor things are taking all the medals for nothing. Then there are cases such as that of Bredni Roque, a weightlifter who had to compete without a uniform because the Federación Mexicana de Levantamiento de Pesas and Comité Olímpico Mexicano did not give him one in his size. Or the case of Mexican boxer Elías Emigdio, who had to represent Mexico with patches on his clothing. Or that of another Mexican boxer, Misael Rodríguez, who won a bronze medal at these Olympics but, before leaving for Rio, had to board buses with his teammates to ask for money, as part of a publicity stunt orchestrated by the Federación Mexicana de Boxeo to protest CONADE's withdrawal of funding. Or the case of two-time Olympic medalist and diver Paola Espinosa, who could not have her doctor and physiotherapist with her during the competitions because the accreditation they received was mistakenly for volleyball rather than diving. These errors, arising from poor administration, bureaucratic problems, and institutions passing the buck from one to another, profoundly harm our athletes' performance. Just imagine having to compete against other athletes and seeing the equipment they have, the entourage attending to them, their incredible uniforms from the brand sponsoring them, while you have to climb into a little bucket of ice, make do with minimal equipment and staff, and compete without a uniform and in patched clothing. Do you think it is easy to enter a competition with a winning attitude? Yet despite all of that, our athletes do it. Facing every obstacle, some athletes won medals and many finished fourth or reached the semifinals; others ranked among the top 10 or 15 in the world. This teaches us that, by resolving some of these problems, Mexico could easily become Latin America's Olympic powerhouse. One extensively discussed case concerns the low scores Mexican divers received in the competitions. Many people well informed about the subject say the scores were unfair and appear to stem from a dispute between CONADE and FINA (Federación Internacional de Natación). Guadalajara had been selected in 2011 to host the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, but in early 2015 the country decided that it no longer had the resources to fulfill the commitment and withdrew as host, leaving FINA only two years to secure a new venue and organize the event. As a result, it appears that FINA did not allow a Mexican judge to take part in these Olympic Games and that, according to experts on the subject, Mexican divers were given lower scores. Even the head of CONADE has stated that the poor results in this discipline are because Mexico has not paid, or has refused to pay, the fine imposed by FINA for cancelling its role as host.

Poor Planning

A serious problem is that, from what I have heard experts say, Mexico has no real sports planning. For a start, there is no government department responsible for these functions, and there is no national plan that genuinely integrates physical culture and sports into children's education. Physical education classes in public and private schools function more as recess; apart from the outdated warm-up exercises still being taught, they are limited to having children play soccer, and perhaps basketball or volleyball from time to time if they are lucky. Schools have no facilities for track and field, swimming, or other sports teams, and there is no entity responsible for seeking talent in student athletic programs because those programs do not exist. All of this that Mexico lacks is something the United States, for example, does have. Its programs may not be perfect, but they have been sufficient to let the country dominate the Olympics every four years. Throughout its history, Mexico has won 72 Olympic medals, while the United States won 121 at these Olympics alone. We need long-term plans that extend beyond a single Olympic cycle, developing athletes from childhood with all the support and investment available in other countries; those athletes will produce results over four or five Olympic Games. Having these athletes matters beyond Olympic medals: it matters for creating a genuine sporting culture in the country. We need institutions and laws truly designed to promote that sporting culture. We need people with training and a background in sports—ideally former athletes—running those institutions. We do not need the leaders of CONADE and COM (Comité Olímpico Mexicano) passing the buck to one another, blaming one another for the lack of preparation and planning, and attacking one another in public while the athletes suffer the consequences. How much do our athletes earn for each medal, and how do those earnings compare with other countries? Curiously, the prizes designated for Mexican athletes are high. For a gold medal, the US offers $25,000 while Mexico offers 3 million pesos—about $160,000. For silver, the US awards $15,000 and Mexico 2 million pesos—$109,000. For bronze, the US gives $10,000 and Mexico 1 million pesos—$55,000. Mexico would seem more generous to its athletes, but these figures, like store promotions, are a mirage: they are large prizes for a very small number of medals, whereas the US awards a small prize for a great many medals. The issue is that support must be given to athletes beforehand. Saying that you will give away 3 million pesos when you know no one will win them is a deception. It would be better to invest those 3 million pesos in scholarships for two athletes over four years, giving each of them around 30,000 pesos per month so their needs are covered and they can focus completely on training. Or those 3 million pesos could be used to provide athletes with funds to buy equipment, pay doctors, or cover other needs. I know support programs exist and investment is being made, but we need more—much more.

3.- Corruption

Lastly comes an issue that throughout our history has always been present, undermining the nation's efforts—at least since the Revolution ended: corruption. Alongside the problem of poor administration and the authorities' inefficiency lies this terrible problem, which becomes palpable as soon as one begins to investigate. Where does the money the government allocates to promoting sports go? To the athletes? No. During this Olympic cycle, the money went to Televisa, TV Azteca, Organización Editorial Mexicana, Hugo Boss, and only the corrupt clique knows where else. The first scandal arrived as the Olympic Games began: at the opening ceremony, the Mexican delegation wore suits designed by Hugo Boss that cost around 4 million pesos in total. OK, I have nothing against foreign brands, but with so many talented Mexican designers who enjoy international success, I wonder whether there might not have been another option. It turns out there was. Mexican designer María Luisa Chávez, who has dressed five Olympic delegations, submitted designs that would have cost 375,000 pesos in total and were rejected for their high price, after which they went and spent 4 million with the Germans. The women did, however, wear a scarf by Pineda Covalin, a very successful Mexican brand, so they could claim to be supporting national talent. But the scandal does not end there. Alfredo Castillo, the crook at the head of CONADE whom I mentioned earlier, took his girlfriend to the Olympics. And what do you think his girlfriend wore at the opening ceremony? You guessed it: the athletes' Hugo Boss suit. This man travels to the Olympics not to work and represent the country, but for a romantic getaway, and then dresses his girlfriend in the suit of… well, besides being corrupt, one has to be stupid not to predict how badly this situation would be received. Another scandal had been brewing since the previous year, when Alfredo Castillo began withdrawing funds from sports federations and cancelling competitions funded by CONADE. His reason was that many of those expenses could not be substantiated, which is obviously a red flag: why can the federations not account for what they do with the money they receive from the government? So far, so good, right? One would assume that government resources would now be put directly to work for the athletes, but no: 110.7 million pesos were spent on advertising for CONADE, an increase of 1,434 percent over the previous year. Who benefits from these multimillion-peso payments made to Televisa, TV Azteca, Organización Editorial Mexicana, and others? Surely Alfredo Castillo and other officials involved. In the case of the advertising and the Mexican delegation's suits, the way officials profit is simple, and I will explain it for those unfamiliar with it. I have experienced firsthand the corruption within Mexican companies—in my case, in advertising—and this is how it works: hypothetically, suppose Alfredo Castillo signs a 35-million-peso advertising contract with Televisa and, in exchange for awarding the contract, demands a 10 percent commission. Televisa pays him 3.5 million under the table. Those who engage in these practices normally ask to be paid in cash, through electronic wallets, or even through payments to their credit cards. A hundred and ten million in advertising, a cute little 4 million for the suits, a little money here in flight expenses, some more there in travel allowances—how much might this official be taking, remembering that Peña Nieto installed him, and how large a cut might he be paying for access to this source of money? I do not accuse him of anything because I have no evidence, but his stupid and careless behavior gives him away; if anyone digs, they may well find something.

Conclusions

Should the Olympic results matter to us? The answer is YES. Although the Olympics could be interpreted as a simple entertainment event—after all, sports are a form of entertainment—they reflect countries' economic, social, and cultural circumstances. These poor results for Mexican sports reflect the poor results we have as a country in general and help us understand where we are failing. I agree that there are more “serious” problems to fight, such as poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment, and the low standard of education. Nevertheless, we will find that the sources of those problems are also indifference, bureaucracy, and corruption. Let us focus on fighting those problems, each according to our abilities, each fighting from our own trench. Referring specifically to Mexican sports, the reason for this post, how can we help? How can we change things? I do not have a concrete plan, but I can think of things we can do. If you are reading this and agree that the situation is bad and worth trying to fix, you can do the following:

1. Learn about the Olympics. Perhaps you did not follow them this year, but you can find information about the competitions and Mexican athletes. Learn who they are and hear their stories, follow them on social media, and do not lose track of them; they are constantly training and competing.
2. Try to take an interest in sports other than soccer. If you like soccer, that is fine, but many sports need a larger audience. Mexico has boxing, tennis, baseball, golf, and many more sports. Our divers and other athletes constantly compete in world tournaments and championships around the globe. We even have Formula 1 drivers. Try to learn more about other sports, even if they are not Olympic sports; there are very enjoyable sports, and we need a sporting culture in the country.
3. Pass a sporting culture on to your children, not only by watching other sports but also by encouraging them to participate: a judo class, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, horseback riding—anything. I know these sound like sports that are difficult to find and enter, but if you investigate, you may be surprised by the available options. Perhaps your daughter is a future Olympic medalist; perhaps your son simply discovers a sport he is passionate about that, even at an amateur level, gives him discipline and determination.
4. Do not allow corrupt officials to continue tearing Mexican sports apart. Do not vote for the party that put them in that position; voting is the easiest and, at the same time, the most powerful way to change things.
5. Share this post and all the articles linked here. Help more people learn about the issue and become interested. Talk with your family and friends; ask whether they watched the Olympics and heard about all these problems. Information is powerful.

For my part, as an amateur distance competitor—half marathon and marathon—I draw great inspiration from the Mexican athletes I was able to follow at these Olympic Games. I hope more people can find that inspiration, not only to compete in sports but in life.