Her name inspires fear. It is synonymous with scolding. It is also a guarantee of success. She is Ma Jin (Beijing, 56 years old). She is one of the main coaches of the Mexican diving delegation. She does not train all the divers, she dedicates herself to building the greats among the greats. She knows how to choose her pupils. She comes from the country that has won 47 gold medals at the Olympic Games. In Paris alone, China has won seven first places. There is no one better than the Chinese and Ma Jin has brought these teachings to Mexico over the last 20 years.
Ma Jin has been accustomed to the obsession with excellence. She practiced ballet, a rigorous discipline that required optimal physical condition. The method of sport in China begins with the recruitment of young prospects from a very early age, exactly from the age of five, as she recounted in an interview with the weekly ProcessShe suffered the rudeness of the Chinese divers: insults, scoldings and pinches. Her coach, Ren Shao Fen, pushed her to the limit to find, according to the trainer, the best version of her pupil. At 12 years old she was already a professional, competing and earning a salary, something unthinkable for any athlete in Mexico. Her retirement occurred five years later, discouraged by the diving environment. She knew she was one of the best, but after she stopped working with Ren Shao Fen, things were not the same. She missed pushing herself to the limit, seeking perfection. “I was never excited about diving,” she told journalist Beatriz Pereyra in 2012.
Ren Shao Fen recruited Ma Jin again, but now as a diving coach. The grandmaster now wanted her pupil to find the great talents to bring out their best. She taught as she learned: with scolding, punishments and insisting that her students not neglect weight or elasticity. In 2003, a job vacancy arose in Mexico which, backed by the Chinese government and Nelson Vargas’ Conade, opened the doors for her to work with the emerging Mexican talents. She ended up in Monterrey and there she met Paola Espinosa and Rommel Pacheco.
“Pressure can crush you, or turn you into a diamond,” the song says. The world is yoursby Mexican rapper Simpson Ahuevo. Espinosa and Pacheco fulfilled their dream. They endured the discipline regime to see their dreams come true. Espinosa won two Olympic medals: bronze in Beijing 2008 with Tatiana Ortiz and silver in London 2012 with Alejandra Orozco. She also won gold in a world championship individually in Rome in 2009, as well as eight golds in the Pan American Games to collect 56 medals. Pacheco was also crowned champion in a world championship held in Rio and, in total, won 38 medals. All with Ma Jin’s seal of approval.
“She is the best coach in the world, I think her presence is imposing. She imposes on the environment, on the coaches, on the judges. They even gave us half a point for her. Without her work we would not have achieved it,” said Osmar Olvera about his coach shortly after winning the silver medal with Juan Manuel Celaya. “When I first joined her team, in January, I… I was really afraid of Ma Jin. I didn’t know what she was like. Being with her, being able to live with her, is unforgettable. I wouldn’t have been able to get here without her, if she hadn’t helped me, if she hadn’t scolded me. She only told us the basics: strength from below, loose shoulders. Hearing those words and bumping her fist calmed me down,” said Celaya.
Osmar Olvera, 20, also won bronze in the individual event. He started as a pupil as a teenager under the orders of the Chinese. “Osmar had confidence in me since he was little, leaving his family to work, he already has a technique similar to the Chinese, he has the goal of doing the same, he has the goal of winning a gold medal, now he knows that he is close, he certainly has to push harder to reach the goal,” the trainer told Conade. Ma Jin, even with some problems speaking Spanish, makes himself understood with gestures, with lessons on how to find the perfect position for diving.
Ma Jin’s headquarters are now in Mexico City, at the National Center for the Development of Sports Talents and High Performance (CNAR). The agreement between Conade and the Chinese government is still in force so that the diving team continues to count on her. It is not for nothing that it is the sport that has given Mexico the most medals with 17 medals. “I am glad to know that after my retirement, the diving team in Mexico is left with some good generations that are coming with everything. Congratulations Osmar on this Olympic start, you have a great future ahead of you with Ma Jin,” wrote Rommel Pacheco in 2021 when Olvera, aged 17, made her debut at the Tokyo Games. He was not wrong. “Now what I need, together with my coach Ma Jin, are camps in China. That will make the difference: training alongside the Chinese, seeing how a 10-year-old boy has better technique than me, that will help me,” said Olvera.
Sign up for the free EL PAÍS Mexico newsletter and to WhatsApp channel and receive all the latest news on current events in this country.
#Jin #mother #diving #successes #Mexico