Laura Gomez, Michael Poettoz Y Charles Quintana have something in common: they will be the only representatives of Colombia in the Winter Olympic Games from Peking.
Each one of them knows what they are exposed to. The three understand that they will try to do their best and promise nothing more than sacrifice and desire to leave the country’s flag high.
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The three are very realistic, that’s why they don’t promise podiums or medals. Colombia does not have a long history in this kind of event and they have arrived in Beijing at the tip of sacrificewith more desire than an excellent preparation.
Gómez, Poettoz and Quintana do what they can. The best in the world will be measured in their disciplines and the aspirations are minimal. Qualifying for a final would be for them to hang a gold medal, but they arrive at the Olympics with their feet on the ground.
two repeaters
It will be the fourth time that Colombia has a representative in the winter games, after Cynthia Denzler was the pioneer in the 2010 competitions in Vancouver, Canada.
Gómez and Poettoz repeat. They had the opportunity to be in Pyeongchang, South Korea, four years ago, and they want to improve what they did.
“I will be in the mass start competition. It is the only test that is run in a group. There are 16 laps and after the first the scores open. In the final turn there is a score of 60, 40, 20, 10 and three units, the gold will go to the one that prevails in that final turn”, says Gómez.
In the past I felt good. The preparation was very poor
You already know what it’s like to go to the Olympics, because in North Korea you had the opportunity to lose stage fright.
“In the past I felt good. The preparation was very poor. I realized shortly before the Games that I had qualified. With that experience, my goal in Beijing will be to go to the final, I couldn’t do it 4 years ago,” said Laura Gómez, who was born on July 17, 1990 in Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia.
Being at the Games four years ago has helped him work on his shortcomings. She has done so by improving her technique, although she points out that despite having the option of being in South Korea, she still considers herself a rookie.
Laura started in skating races, the one in which Colombia always wins the World Cup. She has represented the country in that contest, in Pan American, South American and came to ice skating because in 2017 she was left out of the Colombian National Team and that for her was a disappointment.
“When I heard the news I moved to the United States. The idea was to improve English, but the truth was that I did it to turn the page, ”said Gómez, who is a professional in biomedical engineering, a career that he does not practice.
But the disappointments in roller skating were not overcome. He returned to the country and set himself the goal of being in the National Team. However, in 2020 he was not on the list either, so he returned to the United States.
“When I come I live in Salt Lake City, because it is the center of Colombians, where the process is, where the fedepatin has its contacts. There are few places in the world for this and here is the closest one,” said Laura Gómez, who is the daughter of Julio Gómez, now deceased, and María Eugenia.
In his spare time, Gómez reads, watches television series and even takes minutes a day to walk the dogs when he comes to Colombia.
“When the Olympics are over I will return to my country. There I will return to the roller skating of Antioquia, ”she said.
The one with the experience
Poettoz was born on March 2000, in Pereira, he was received by the French couple formed by Michel and Cécile Poettoz, his adoptive parents, who returned four years later and took Carolina, another adopted girl, today Michael’s other love.
He reaches his third Games, two seniors and the other juniors, and will do so in the slalom and giant slalom events, in which he has experience. Of the three, he is the one who arrives the best seasoned, with ‘hours of work and training’.
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“I like to give my best in sports, that’s why I’m proud to be in an Olympics. Since I was little my parents saw my potential, and then the coaches, so much so that I have been able to get to where I am, ”he specified.
He will not be at the opening of the fair, since his participation in the Games will be from February 13, so he adjusts outside the competition.
He had an accident three months ago. He presented some discomfort in the ribs, but it did not get worse. He stopped his training a bit, but he arrives in Beijing in excellent condition.
He knows Colombia, not as he would like, but Michael has had the opportunity to come to the country, to share with other athletes and, at least, soak up his roots.
“I have rarely been to Colombia, I know something about its history and, of course, about mine. I have both nationalities, and that makes me have a commitment to the countries, even from a distance,” said Poettoz, who was born in Cali on August 21, 1998.
the one that debuts
Quintana has a story similar to Laura’s. Both began in roller skating, but Carlos went through the sky and reached the triathlon, a sport that has given him great satisfaction, since he has won silver and bronze medals in the National Games.
In addition, with the Colombian National Team, he won the youth title in the Central American and Caribbean Championship and was third in a South American Championship, but in the U-23 category.
For the first time, he has the option of going to the Olympics, and he doesn’t want to waste it, that’s why he spends seasons in Spain, in order to train, to improve his technique.
“I wake up very motivated, sometimes without believing what I have done. Many years ago I was hoping to go to the Olympics and I have already achieved it. The mere fact of qualifying is a great happiness, ”he commented to EL TIEMPO.
And he added: “Classifying is a prize, because we don’t have a place to practice those sports, from there it’s complicated. There are other Latin countries that have classified people, but none of them live in the country, I do.”
Quintana understands that he is going to the ‘wolf’s mouth’, but he has assumed responsibility with great professionalism.
“I had two goals: one, to qualify in two tests, in distance, long distance and one sprint. That has already been done. The second, the plan that we have devised with captain Sebastián Uprimny is to score less than 200 points. It is a Nordic sport, since they were children these athletes already have it in their blood, they take us a long way. The ideal is that Colombia can improve, ”he indicated.
Carlos Quintana was born on February 16, 1985 in Pereira. His father is Luis Carlos Quintana and his mother is Olga del Carmen Morales. He grew up next to María Catalina, his sister, and graduated as a sports technician from the Andean University.
“I am dedicated to the sport. I have a place and I live from that, from the rent. My mom died five years ago and she left it to me. For four years I have been traveling to Spain to train in the Andorra area”, she commented.
He qualified for the Olympics in the World Cup in Germany and once the quota was confirmed, the support of the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) has been essential for him.
“I have a Colombian passport and I can enter Europe for 90 days only. I have been very cautious with that and I stay in Spain for three months and return to Colombia, where I train with a longer type of skate, with poles, with another type of tip so that I do not slip. It’s not ideal, because in my country you don’t have snow. People see me training and it makes them curious,” Quintana said.
Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of THE TIME
@lisandroabel
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