Fabián Puerta exploded: “I thought I was a Hollywood superstar”, video

In just four years the life of the Colombian cyclist Fabian Door He made incredible turns, he touched the sky with his hands, but at the same time the circumstances landed him and today he lives a totally different present, of which he is proud.

The strength to move forward is given by the gold medal he achieved in the past South American Games in Asunción, Paraguay, in the competition that took him to the top, keirin, in which he was silver twice in the World Cup, 2014 and 2017, but in which he finally won gold in 2018, a year that hurt him a lot.

(Colombia U-17 will have a prize, Federation says it was misunderstood)

On June 11, 2018, he was requested for a doping control, to which he was convinced that he would be negative, but 68 days later he was preparing to carry out his normal training, he opened the mail and found a message in which the International Cycling Union (UCI) confirmed that he had tested positive for the substance boldenone. The world came to him.

Problems after doping

He swore he was innocent and took refuge in his life. He says that his head was spinning, that he was not prepared for a blow as hard as this and that he did not maturely assimilate what was happening.

“My head was playing tricks on me. I had many indecisions. My head was not in good focus. I never retired, I never made that decision, but I was always more on the bike than retired. If I had had the immediate sanction, it would not have changed much “he told EL WEATHER.

Puerta had difficult moments. The definitive sanction of the UCI took a long time, it only came until December 16, 2020, two years and a little more after the notification, although the rider born in Caldas, Antioquiaon July 12, 1991, assures that that was the least important and that it did not harm him.

(Colombia, mercilessly with Tanzania, see here the goals of the game)

“More than the delay of the sanction, what harmed me was my head. A few days he told me that he wanted to continue, run the route, return to the track, continue at speed, in short, I was not, ”she said.

Almost a year before the notification arrived, he had one, perhaps, the happiest moment of his life, the birth of Maximiliano, his son, thanks to the union with Juliana, the sprinter’s sister Fernando Gaviria, but that relationship ended during those four meager years for him.

“That came together, the truth is that the relationship I have now with her is that of a father and a mother, it is what we have. And that helps me, I have to know that the important thing is my son’s future, because it is everything to me and I want him to feel proud of his father, “she declared.

The Colombian cyclist says that the problem of the positive was left behind and assures that he is innocent, but that this inconvenience left him reeling, because cycling was everything in his life and from one moment to the next he was left unable to pedal.

“I have worked on the psychological part because now I am not interested in proving whether or not I am innocent. If you believe me fine, if not, fine. If they judge me behind a cell phone, on the networks, then there they are. I have a clear conscience and. It was a process that I got through. If you called me a few years ago and I touched on the subject, I would surely hang up on you, because it broke my heart, ”she specified.

The moment was so difficult that he had to go to a psychological process. His head was spinning around and around, he didn’t know which way to turn. The process, he says, was tough, but they helped him and he got ahead.

The family of Carlos Ramirez Yepes the Colombian double Olympic medalist cyclist gave him a good hand and he appreciates it. For Puerta, their support was key. He didn’t know what to do, which way to go, whether to continue training, to get off the bike for good.

“They helped me a lot, financially and psychologically, because I didn’t know which way to go. I had time to study, but I didn’t do it, I never paid attention to it and from one moment to the next I found myself with my arms crossed, I had a lot of free time and I didn’t know what to use it for, that’s why I was going crazy,” said Puerta. .

He always liked photography, so he devoted himself to it. In addition, with the Ramírez family he set up a frozen potato company (JYC) and they are doing well.

“That is why I say that the Ramírez were key, with them I started with those two companies and it has gone in the best way, but cycling was my thing, that’s why I never left it,” he said.

hard change

It wasn’t easy talking to him. He wasn’t the most loved either. Fabián Puerta was unpleasant, his victories, seeing himself on top, led him to be like that. He was the king of the track, nobody in Colombia beat him and in the world he achieved important results, but he gave himself a good blow, the same one that helped him mature.

“I have many mistakes and I made many more. The main one was that I thought I was the Hollywood superstar of cycling, I had a lot of ego problems, in sports, personally, that was hard. I realized and appreciated what happened to me, today I have changed. I look at the past and it makes me angry, but he was a shitty person, I’m sure that the Fabián Puerta of 4 years ago is not the same as this year”, he assured with the same force with which he takes the first pedal stroke in a final of the keirin.

Long before the sanction expired, his head began to fail him again. Puerta didn’t know whether to continue or not, but she made up her mind, gathered strength and said ‘yes’. However, the fear of the result, of what they will say, put him against the wall.

But the mental part was key. The work with Camilo, his psychologist, was important for the world medalist to return to the competition.

“I was afraid of what I was going to say, that they would point at me, that they would say look at the one who fell from the pedestal and was never the same again, but I got over it. Cycling is what I am passionate about. I said, ‘if I came last, well, it’s going to hurt, it’ll be frustrating, but if I win, it’s fine, and I accepted the call from Jhon Jaime González to the Colombia team,’ he said.

In Asunción he felt pressure, it was incredible that after 4 years Jhon Jaime called him, but this was an opportunity that he could not miss and he took advantage of it. That gold suits her, because what she wants is to compete in the Nations Cup, give points to Colombia and compete in Paris OlympicsThat is the main goal of the new Fabián Puerta.
(Falcao García was injured again, now what was it?)(Colombia U-17, to the semifinal: when and where to watch the game?)

Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of THE TIME
@lisandroabel