Despite its overall dominance in the sporting world, Mexico has not had much luck in major championships on the track as of late. The nation of 128 million people sent entire teams to compete in the marathons and race walks at the Tokyo Olympics, but sent only one male participant.
R. Romero Torres Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Jesus Tonatiu Lopez, a 24-year-old sprinter, saw his Olympic journey cut short in the 800m semifinals due to a tactical error that cost him valuable fractions of a second and left him wondering what may have been.
Lopez came in third, only 0.03 seconds behind the winner, Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir, and 0.17 seconds behind the silver medalist, Poland’s Patryk Dobek.
Lopez, who debuted in the year 2022 at the Millrose Games, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, adds, “I sobbed” (29). I was quite aggravated. Possibly, I thought, I could run in that contest.
Lopez plans to make reparations in the following months, with the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on March 22 and the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on July 22 serving as primary goals.
He says, “I’m not hoping for a major achievement” in Belgrade. It will be beneficial for me to compete against the best in the world. My goal is to advance to the championship round in Eugene. Of course I’d like to win a medal, but I try not to put undue pressure on myself by setting such a narrow goal.
Lopez tried to downplay hopes for a medal from Mexican journalists in the lead-up to Tokyo.
He explains, “I don’t want to talk like that.” In the words of the great Michael Phelps: “All I want to do is run as fast as I can. I know that if I run my best race I have a good chance of winning a medal, therefore I intend to do just that.
He has Learned this During the Previous Year.
Lopez has taken a number of moderate advances in 2020 and 2021 that have culminated in a single, enormous leap into the realm of the world-class. His previous national record was 1:44.40, which he lowered to in May of last year. Two months later, in Marietta, USA, he shaved off almost a full second from his time, coming in at 1:43.44.
Despite appearances, Lopez felt better after the first race. Justify your answer.
“When I ran 1:43, (Nijel) Amos ran 1:42.91 at the Monaco (Diamond League meeting) on the same day,” he says. To put it simply, I was annoyed by the fact that I couldn’t be there. I mistook my own speed for actual speed.
Last Words
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