Gabriela Agundez, bronze medalist at Tokyo 2020, has been unable to focus on her potential at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as a result of a dispute between the Mexican Federation and World Aquatics over swimming power in Mexico.
The withdrawal of all support for aquatic athletes has hampered their preparation for an important year which includes a range of competitions.
“This struggle has cut short my way to Paris, my day-to-day and my preparation to not have the necessary resources to compete,” he shared in an interview with La Jornada.
Agundez’s anxiety is evident when he says that the past few months have been complicated as his future hangs in the balance due to the crossfire between the two organizations.
“There are days when I train and ask myself, ‘What’s next, what am I going to do, what motivation do I start practicing if I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow? The big uncertainty is that I don’t know how I’m going to do it to compete in the World Cup,” said one of the world’s best divers, who finished fourth in the 10-metre platform at Tokyo 2020.
A year after the French Fair, Gaby finds it unfair that the main topic focuses on how her colleagues should solve economic issues in the absence of a scholarship, instead of focusing on getting tickets.
“As an athlete he takes out of his own pocket, it doesn’t suit me the best and what’s more, it’s not even enough for us, how much does it cost to travel from here to Japan?” Besides, it is not just one year, there are many competitions before the Olympic Games”, he revealed.
“This situation has affected us a lot and hence we are raising our voice. In my case, I am open to possibilities of giving some lectures and motivational talks to be able to meet my expenses.”
Calm returned to Agundez’s face when she recalled her beginnings and the afternoon her mother encouraged her to take up the sport.
“I remember my mother used to tell us when I was little; ‘I prefer paying them monthly into an activity than buying scrap metal every day.
At first he did not understand what his mother wanted to say. “Today, at 22, I can say it was the best investment I ever made”. That sentence opened up a whole new world for little Gaby, who found her true vocation in sports and diving when she was barely seven years old.
Once in, he fell in love with the discipline and never left it again. It was an instant connection that has endured to this day.
“I loved the sensation and the adrenaline as soon as I jumped off the three-meter springboard. About a year later, my dream of going to the Olympics was born.”
At the time she had to watch Paola Espinosa hang up a bronze medal in the 10-meter synchronized platform with Tatiana Ortiz, “it was huge motivation”, to hang up the same medal 12 years later with Alejandra Orozco.
