Mexico’s rhythmic gymnastics team is preparing to compete in its first-ever Summer Olympics.
In a sport dominated by Russia, Bulgaria, Spain and other European countries, the five-woman Mexico squad qualified with a silver medal at the Pan American Games last year in Santiago, Chile, earning them a ticket to Paris.
“The moment when we qualified for the [2024] Olympic Games was very spectacular,” recalled team member Adirem Tejeda from Mérida, Yucatán. “We hugged each other. We cried. The countries of Venezuela and Colombia came over and also congratulated us. It was very nice to feel the sisterhood.”
Rhythmic gymnastics has been an Olympic sport since 1984 as an individual event; the group competition was added in 1996.
Mexico’s team, under the direction of head coach Blajaith Aguilar Rojas, will make its Olympic debut when the individual all-around competition begins on Aug. 8 at the new Porte de la Chapelle Stadium in the 18th arrondissement.
In total, 94 rhythmic gymnasts will be competing — 24 individuals and 14 teams (with five athletes per team).
Mexico’s team is composed of Tejeda, 22; Dalia Alcocer, 20, also from Mérida; Sofia Flores, 19, from the state of Coahuila (city not available); Kimberly Salazar, 20, from Xalapa, Veracruz; and 16-year-old Julia Gutierrez, also from Mérida.
The Mexican athletes say their routines will honor three of the Louvre Museum’s most famous works: the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and Diana of Versailles, a statue that depicts the Roman goddess of hunting and wilderness.
In rhythmic gymnastics, often described as “expression through movement,” athletes perform leaps, balancing maneuvers and flips on a huge floor mat while handling an apparatus. The musical accompaniment plays a significant role.
In Paris, there will be four exercises in the individual all-around competition: hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. There will also be two exercises in the group all-around competition, involving five hoops, three ribbons and two balls.
In qualifying for the 2024 Games, the Mexican team beat out Brazil for the silver medal at the Pan American Games in November 2023, a competition in which Mexico won a record 52 gold medals.
Much of the team’s success has been attributed to Aguilar, a native of Jalisco who started in gymnastics at age 7. One of her early mentors at a State Council for Sports Promotion (CODE) training center in Jalisco was a coach from Bulgaria, Ivanka Tchakarova.
“Thanks to her, I have a passion for rhythmic gymnastics,” Aguilar recalled. “I remember sitting with her at CODE Jalisco. She was explaining to me why a jump attempt was worth it, and why it didn’t matter if the judge deducted points” if the move wasn’t perfect.
As an athlete, Aguilar was part of the team that won the bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She has been the team’s head coach since 2016.
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Games will occur on Friday, with springboard diver Alejandra Orozco and modern pentathlete Emiliano Hernández representing Mexico as flagbearers. Each country’s delegation will be sailing in boats on the Seine River.
Men’s soccer and rugby sevens started on Wednesday, July 24, and on Thursday, women’s soccer, handball and archery will get underway. Mexico’s athletes are expected to bring home at least a few medals at the 2024 games.
In Mexico, the Paris Olympics can be followed on television on Channels 5 and 9, TUDN and Claro Sports.
With reports from Reforma, Infobae and La Jornada Maya
