A Long Way for Mexican Women

As I watched and cheered the Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa on her way to winning the Women’s British Open, I was reminded of the advances women athletes have recently made in Mexico. And I believe the Mexicans appreciate it as well.

Although there likely won’t be a repeat of the celebration which took over Avenida Reforma when the Mexican National Soccer Team advanced into the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, there is surely much cheering going on throughout Mexico for the accomplishments of Ms. Ochoa and, yes, some fireworks also.

When I recently traveled to Mexico, revisiting a couple of areas I know very well from having lived there for six years, I thought of the enthusiasm Mexicans have for sports, in particular futball. The kids there play it like kids play baseball in the US. And here and there you also find Mexicans who know and love baseball. I remember sitting glued to the television in a Mexico City apartment in 1981 as pitcher Fernando Valenzuela hung on to win game three of the World Series. Young Fernando had paid his dues in the Mexican League and even threw some Texas League pitches here in San Antonio. But I digress. Mexicans do follow baseball and on my recent trip I even saw a kid holding a football of the pigskin variety.

During the mid-80s I was living in Xalapa, the capital of the State of Veracruz. There’s a minor league baseball team there and everywhere you find soccer, though 99 percent played by males. Maybe that’s changing now. I hope the success of women’s soccer in the US is having an effect south of the border. In Xalapa and the surrounding areas (I actually lived in the coffee producing town of Coatepec) running was immensely popular. I would dare to say there were the soccer players and the runners, and the two didn’t overlap that much. In fact, when you went to the track there were always soccer matches going on and lots of runners in serious training. Like soccer, there were never many women at the track. Mexican running was dominated at the time by the men. Arturo Barrios was featured in Runners’ World and was on his way to setting a long standing record in the men’s 10K. Mexican runners were training like mad and many fine runners were at work in the Xalapa/Coatepec area. I ran laps, and nothing more, but I marveled at the focused dedication of the great Veracruz runners.

When my friend Liz Levin had come to Mexico she was already an experienced marathoner. She continued to run regularly and seriously in Toluca, Estado de Mexico, where the elevation is 9000 feet. When we moved to Coatepec she fell right in with the enthusiastic running community, despite the fact there were very few women who were runners. Liz ran at the track and also on the steep cobblestone roads in the coffee fincas, honoring the age-old runners’ tradition of a weekly long run. A Mexican runner named Pedro (I can’t recall his last name) began to help her with her training and together they would take 6 AM runs into the countryside as I rolled over and slept some more. Liz became more than a novelty. She was winning some races in her gender and age bracket while some of the Mexican women began to notice. I don’t intend to suggest that Liz was singularly responsible for the women who began to run seriously in that part of Mexico, but surely they had noticed her dedication to the sport.

Back then we watched as male Mexican runners placed high at the important international marathons. Some still do. But today it is the Mexican women who are turning heads in the running world. Adriana Fernandez won the New York Marathon in 1999. At that time she noted: "There are many more women running in Mexico now. They need more time for you to see them'' at the world class level, "but they will develop. This is going to encourage more women to run." Madaí Pérez, the new kid on the block, is currently finishing strong at the international events and is the Mexican record holder with her 2:22:59 at the 2006 Chicago Marathon.

But the most popular female Mexican runner is surely sprinter Ana Guevara. She has attracted legions of fans to the sport of women’s track in Mexico. When Ana recently set an unofficial world record in the rarely run 300 m she reacted by saying: “An unforgettable night for me and the whole of Mexico; the emotion tonight was unbelievable. I didn’t think so many people would respond.” Guevara continued: “When I came out for the opening ceremony I was amazed to see so many people in the stands. It was a dream but we decided why not, and it’s a dream which came true.”

And now similar popularity awaits golfer Lorena Ochoa after winning in such style the Women’s British Open at the hallowed St. Andrews course. I am not alone in cheering the successes of the Mexican woman athlete. May there be many more victories. ¡Viva Mexico!