Una introducción necesaria
Pero, al igual que en el aula, en algunas ocasiones tengo que variar mi contenido, debido a la ocurrencia de un hecho relevante o a un elemento de fuerza mayor y, este es uno de esos casos.
Resulta que, según mi planificación, hoy debía escribir sobre mis pronósticos de cara a los playoffs divisionales de las Grandes Ligas del béisbol de los Estados Unidos que comienzan hoy. Pero, ya @fermionico se encargó de hacerlo y, tenemos mucha coincidencia en los resultados que se pueden dar y yo no tendría mucho más que aportar.
En cambio, voy a abordar un hecho que considero muy importante porque fue la coronación de una carrera deportiva de una atleta que admiro mucho y que, además, tiene lazos con un cubano que me dio muchas alegrías en su etapa de deportista.
La mejor del mundo, pero….
https://x.com/luisinmejia/status/1787258439422419138/photo/1
Para todo deportista de alto rendimiento hay varias metas en su vida y, una de ellas es ser el número uno, el mejor del mundo.
Hay muchos atletas que han tenido una carrera brillante a nivel de clubes, pero, cuando usted le pregunta, todo lo cambian por ganar un título con su selección o alcanzar una cota que signifique ser recordado como un atleta excepcional. Cuando escribo esta idea, recuerdo una entrevista hecha a Leonel Messi, en la que decía que prefería cambiar todos sus balones de oro por una Copa del Mundo de Argentina. 2022 le dio la posibilidad de ganar ese título e inmortalizar su carrera.
A nuestra protagonista de hoy le sucedía lo mismo, pues, desde 2015, cuando ganó el campeonato sudamericano de triple salto, y el 2016, cuando ganó la medalla de oro en el campeonato mundial de pista cubierta, ya estaba llamada a ser la mejor del mundo. Sin embargo, su gran rival, la colombiana Catherine Ibarguen la derrotó en los Juegos Olímpicos de Río de Janeiro 2016.
Lo que vino después de la cita de Río de Janeiro fue cosecha dorada para nuestra atleta, pues en cada competición no había ninguna saltadora que se le acercara y, sencillamente, logró ganar todas las competencias en las que participó, entre las que se encuentran los campeonatos mundiales al aire libre, bajo techo y las ligas del Diamante.
Sin embargo, era la mejor saltadora del mundo. Dueña de unas condiciones físicas excelentes, técnica depurada y una sincronización adecuada entre cada uno de los saltos que debe realizar (despegue, segundo salto bien fuerte y tercer salto para llegar lo más lejos posible, ayudada por la fuerza de sus brazos y su cuerpo)
Incluso, en el 2020, World Athletic la seleccionó como la mejor atleta del mundo. Pero, su historia no estaba completa, a su vida le faltaba algo y, era ese título máximo al que aspira todo deportista: La gloria olímpica.
La Covid-19 impide su coronación en el 2020
Si hubo un acontecimiento que cambió la vida del planeta, fue la pandemia de Covid-19, porque provocó la muerte de muchas personas, trajo sufrimiento a la familia del mundo y afectó cada una de las actividades del planeta, fundamentalmente, las de carácter social.
En el 2020 se debían realizar los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020, pero, por lo antes señalado, la máxima cita del deporte universal se vio impedida de llevarse a cabo, al menos, en el año correspondiente. Debido a esto, muchos sueños fueron rotos y otros se pospusieron.
Coronando un sueño
Por fin, en el verano del 2021 se llevaron a cabo los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020 y nuestra protagonista pudo, por fin, alcanzar un sueño largamente acariciado.
Quien escribe esta publicación aún recuerda la manera en que esta atleta deleitó al público y alcanzó varios hitos que la llenaron de satisfacción y a sus seguidores nos alegró la vida, en medio de tanto sufrimiento por la dichosa pandemia.
Todavía está fresco en mi memoria ese 4 de octubre de 2021, en el que Yulimar Rojas ganó la medalla de oro e impuso récords del mundo y olímpico.
Además, se convirtió en la primera atleta de ese país en ganar un título dorado en el deporte rey.
Un comentario final
En Paris 2024 Yulimar debía defender su corona y alcanzar, quizás, lo que ninguna atleta en el mundo ha logrado en su especialidad: romper la barrera de los 16 metros, algo que era su objetivo prioritario antes de la lesión que le impidió representar a su amada Venezuela durante la cita de la capital francesa.
Nota: He usado el traductor DeepL Translate.
ENGLISH
A necessary introduction
As a content creator, I have a habit of having an idea of what I want to publish. It is an exercise I do at the beginning of each week. It must be the fact that I have worked for 30 years as a teacher and have to plan my students' classes.
But, just like in the classroom, sometimes I have to vary my content, due to the occurrence of a relevant event or a force majeure element and, this is one of those cases.
It turns out that, according to my planning, today I was supposed to write about my predictions for the US Major League Baseball divisional playoffs that start today. But, @fermionico already took care of that and, we have a lot of overlap in the outcomes that are likely to occur and I wouldn't have much more to contribute.
Instead, I am going to address a fact that I consider very important because it was the crowning of a sports career of an athlete that I admire very much and that, in addition, has ties with a Cuban who gave me much joy in his stage as an athlete.
The best in the world, but ....
https://x.com/luisinmejia/status/1787258439422419138/photo/1
For every high-performance athlete there are several goals in life and one of them is to be number one, the best in the world.
There are many athletes who have had a brilliant career at club level, but, when you ask them, they trade it all for winning a title with their national team or reaching a milestone that means being remembered as an exceptional athlete. As I write this thought, I am reminded of an interview with Leonel Messi, in which he said he would rather trade all his golden balls for a World Cup for Argentina. 2022 gave him the chance to win that title and immortalize his career.
The same thing was happening to our protagonist today, because, since 2015, when she won the South American triple jump championship, and 2016, when she won the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships, she was already called to be the best in the world. However, her great rival, the Colombian Catherine Ibarguen defeated her at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
What came after the Rio de Janeiro event was golden harvest for our athlete, because in every competition there was no jumper who came close to her and, quite simply, she managed to win all the competitions in which she participated, among which are the world championships outdoors, indoors and the Diamond leagues.
However, she was the best jumper in the world. Owner of excellent physical conditions, refined technique and a proper synchronization between each of the jumps to be performed (take-off, second jump very strong and third jump to get as far as possible, helped by the strength of her arms and her body).
In 2020, World Athletic even selected her as the best athlete in the world. But, her story was not complete, her life was missing something and, it was that ultimate title to which every athlete aspires: Olympic glory.
Covid-19 prevents her coronation in 2020
If there was an event that changed the life of the planet, it was the Covid-19 pandemic, because it caused the death of many people, brought suffering to the family of the world and affected each of the activities of the planet, mainly those of a social nature.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were to be held in 2020, but, due to the aforementioned, the greatest universal sporting event was prevented from taking place, at least, in the corresponding year. As a result, many dreams were shattered and others were postponed.
Crowning a dream
Finally, in the summer of 2021, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games took place and our protagonist was finally able to achieve a long-cherished dream.
The writer of this publication still remembers the way in which this athlete delighted the public and reached several milestones that filled her with satisfaction and made her fans' lives happy, in the midst of so much suffering due to the pandemic.
It is still fresh in my memory that October 4, 2021, when Yulimar Rojas won the gold medal and set world and Olympic records.
In addition, she became the first athlete from that country to win a golden title in the king of sports.
A final comment
In Paris 2024 Yulimar had to defend her crown and achieve, perhaps, what no athlete in the world has achieved in her specialty: break the barrier of 16 meters, something that was her priority goal before the injury that prevented her from representing her beloved Venezuela during the event in the French capital.
Note: I used the translator DeepL Translate.