Uncovering Mexico

Uncovering Mexico

Jeremy Schwartz is the Mexico correspondent for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Mexico City.

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All the entries posted on August 21, 2008.

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Home > Uncovering Mexico > Archives > 2008 > August > 21

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Mexico’s golden Olympics

By Jeremy Schwartz | Thursday, August 21, 2008, 09:58 AM

In the U.S., where Olympic medals come by the dozens, it may be hard to understand the euphoria that comes with a single gold medal south of the border: For the last 24 hours, Mexico has been in a frenzy over Guillermo “Memo” Perez, who took the top prize in tae kwon do. The Mexican president called Memo just minutes after his dramatic, overtime victory, while the athlete was still drenched in sweat and in his fighting uniform. He was feted with mariachi and dancing (Mexico’s networks brought several mariachi groups to Beijing, just in case) right after his victory and the formerly obscure Michoacan native led the nightly newscasts. He adorns the front pages of the nation’s newspapers as we speak.

In an emotional tribute to Memo last night, a TV Azteca announcer thanked the fighter for “returning Mexico to glory.”

Before Memo Perez’s unexpected gold medal, Mexico was on pace for perhaps its grimmest Olympic showing in what has been a string of poor performances dating back to 1968, when it hosted the games. Its single bronze medal - in synchronized diving - had pundits and analysts blasting sporting officials and lamenting the unrelenting disappointment. Some argued the government doesn’t spend enough to train world class athletes, others that bureaucrats siphoned off the money before it could reach the athletes. This summer’s Olympics seemed destined to be known more for Mexico’s constant and embarrassing uniform snafus than for the athletes’ performances.

But in one instant, Memo Perez brought some pride back to Mexico, which constantly compares itself to other countries and obsessively scrutinizes its performances on the world stage. Mexico hadn’t won a gold since 2000, and men’s gold since 1984 in Los Angeles.

This morning though, after weeks of Olympic disappointment (and a growing fear over the rise of kidnappings in the country) it seems that for a moment, everything is alright with the world.

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