“Representing Mexico is an honor as golden as an Olympic medal. It is a dream to be a citizen of a country that is so welcoming to the whole world. When I travel, people smile and remember their experiences in my beautiful country. I will wear the flag, one can never dream of such an immense honor. I hope to bring grace and my own humility to the privilege of representing my nation, my people and my flag,” the alpine skier told AFP.
Representing Mexico is an honor as golden as an Olympic medal. It is a dream to be a citizen of such a welcoming country from all over the world
Without his family in Beijing
Schleper and skater Donovan Carrillo, two of the four Mexican participants in the Games, will be the flag bearers at Friday’s opening ceremony at the Bird’s Nest stadium.
“My husband feels a great honor with the fact that I am an important part of the Mexican team. We feel a strong responsibility to represent Mexico. He feels that I am a strong ambassador in the Olympic community,” she adds.
Unfortunately for her, neither her Mexican husband nor their two children, Lassen and Resi, aged 14 and 8, will be present in Beijing due to restrictions due to the pandemic.
“We are now in the north of Italy, in a town called Kastelruth, where the alpine skiing community has a long history. When we’re not training for the Games, we train in Vail, Colorado. Our Mexican base is in Puerto Escondido, in Oaxaca. I have a passion for Mexican beaches and waves,” she notes.
Schleper explains that she is not Mexican by chance.
“We are in Mexico a lot. We believe that it is important to touch our roots as much as possible. What I like most about Mexico are my family, my friends, the smiles, the food, the waves, the culture and the vibe of my beloved adopted country. It is important to know that since I was young I dreamed of being Mexican. This was not an accident, “he defends.
Mexico has a skier on its team who was Top 10 at the 2006 Turin Games, when she was tenth in the slalom.
In 2005 she was seventh in the slalom at the Alpine Ski World Championships in Santa Caterina, in Italy, the same year that she won a World Cup event, in that same specialty, in Switzerland.
After having participated in the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Games representing the United States, in 2011 he announced his retirement.
But three years later, in 2014, she took her husband’s Mexican nationality, and returned to competition, representing her new country.