Adriana Ruano’s triumph at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is the result of perseverance, while filling many generations with hope and inspiration, reflect two former Olympic athletes, who also open the debate on the need to invest more in sport.
The fact that Ruano won a gold medal in a non-traditional sport also breaks paradigms and gives a breath of fresh air to a country in such desperate need of good news, says communicator and sociologist Gustavo Berganza.
According to Berganza, not all sports have bad results and Ruano’s victory demonstrates the efforts of courageous women who raise the morale of the population.
“The fact that a woman won the first gold medal for Guatemala in this sport is an incentive for other women to commit to achieving their goals. The first medal was Barrondo’s and this breaks the mold and shows that women have the ability,” she points out.
Making history
Sofía Gómez and Gisella Morales, two former Olympic athletes and now gymnastics and swimming coaches, respectively, have a very clear path for Guatemala to continue growing in sports competitions with results as appreciated as those of Ruano yesterday and Jean Pierre Brol last Tuesday.
“With perseverance, patience and discipline you can reach your goal, to achieve such an important and fundamental achievement as Olympic gold,” says Gómez, winner of four gold medals at the Central American Games.
Gómez says this is proof that Guatemalan women are “strong-willed and have objective goals.”
“Adriana has just shown us that women can achieve many goals, many dreams and, above all, she will inspire many new generations to achieve historic feats,” she said.
Gómez acknowledges Ruano’s achievement, as well as that of Brol and other athletes who have achieved important victories in sporting events in disciplines that have not been as high-profile but that need financial support.
“There are sports that are not usually in the spotlight, but they also raise the name of Guatemala,” Gomez insisted.
Morales, winner of two Pan American medals, also values Ruano’s triumph and emphasizes that it is not necessary to leave your studies or jobs to achieve your dreams and achieve sporting feats.
“I feel proud. I think this is not a matter of sex or gender, but of humans. I think they are both excellent people who have values and principles,” she said.
For Morales, the triumph of Érick Barrondo, who won a medal in the race walking discipline at the London Olympics in 2012, was a paradigm-breaking achievement and an inspiration for Guatemalan athletes.
“There is a very nice story about an American athlete who was unable to break a record, and then he did break it three months later, like four hundred athletes after him. I think Barrondo also broke the mold and showed Guatemalans that it is possible, and now Adriana and Jean Pierre are here to reinforce that belief,” he stressed.
This is just the beginning of a new generation, says Morales, and he believes that in other international events, Guatemalans will participate in the majority and with better results.
“We are going to get closer and closer to the podiums in different sports, because they have set high standards and a high bar, and they are showing athletes that they have to do things well,” he says.
Limited investment
Gómez and Morales also see in Ruano’s victory the need to invest more in sport, in disciplines that are little practiced and followed, but which represent tangible achievements in international competitions.
“I hope that sponsors, the Olympic Committee and federations invest more in talent. I would love to see sponsors really change that mentality and not just decide to support once, once the results are there, and start to focus and support more those who come after them,” said Morales.
It is not a spontaneous triumph, says Morales, but rather the result of processes that must continue to achieve better results. According to the athlete, the results have also been demonstrated on other occasions, when athletes have won Pan American medals and in world games.
“Hopefully this will serve to highlight the importance of support and investment at an early stage, so that in 12 years these fruits can be seen and materialized,” added Morales, who says that many athletes take many years to achieve success and that this should be understood as an investment when athletes are supported with financial resources on a consistent basis.
Gómez adds that the results obtained in the current Olympic Games and the achievement of Érick Barrondo in London 2012 confirm that “we must learn to invest more in individual sports, because they are the ones that have given us Olympic glory at an international level.”
“I want to invite all the people, all of Guatemala, all those children, all those young people, all those girls to support these sports, because they are the ones that are helping us to make the Guatemalan flag known internationally,” said Morales.
With these achievements, the gymnast hopes that more sponsors will come forward to support athletes and new generations, considering that if more is invested in all athletes, more and better results can be achieved.
Regarding the role of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, Gómez says that it must improve in order to contribute to more and better results.
“The federations and the Olympic Committee have managed to invest in their athletes, which is why we have the results we have; but we need more sponsorship outside of the national institutions that we have. At one time there was an Olympic foundation that helped a lot with my sporting career, but today there is no longer that extra support,” he added.
“The budget is not enough, we have to invest as we have invested in these Olympic athletes, we have to invest in the new generations so that in the future we are not just individual athletes, but in these sports we can count on team representation,” he said.
Shared challenges
The Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation, Francisco Aguilar, highlights the scope that this achievement will have for high-performance sport and the challenges that persist in recreational and school sport.
He points out that with the two medals obtained, it is expected that the federal quota will grow and that the Sports Confederation should take advantage of the situation to facilitate competitive participation.
“Only one percent can reach that level – high performance – it is a responsibility that we share with the institutions of the National Council of Sport, Physical Education and Recreation (Conader),” he said.
He acknowledges that there are challenges that must be overcome, such as increasing federal participation and ensuring that there is a close relationship between school and federal sports.
“School sports are essential to increase the federal quota and to ensure that those who have the ability can discover them from an early age,” he said.
He also pointed out that work is being done on the National Policy on Sport, Physical Education and Recreation 2025-2032, and it is expected that the foundations for it will be laid this year.
“In order to increase competitive participation, health and education are required, as well as comprehensive security that allows more young Guatemalans to participate,” he said.
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