Mexican figure skater advances – a first for the country

Advertisement

Advertise with us

BEIJING (AP) — Donovan Carrillo of Mexico advanced to the free skate portion of the figure skating competition at the Beijing Games on Tuesday, a first for the country, which hadn’t had an Olympic skater in three decades.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$1 per week for 24 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.75/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Winnipeg Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*$1 will be added to your next bill. After your 4 weeks access is complete your rate will increase by $0.00 a X percent off the regular rate.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/02/2022 (1332 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIJING (AP) — Donovan Carrillo of Mexico advanced to the free skate portion of the figure skating competition at the Beijing Games on Tuesday, a first for the country, which hadn’t had an Olympic skater in three decades.

All it took was the best performance of his life.

“I didn’t want it to end,” Carrillo said. “I wanted to keep skating and living the Olympic dream.”

Donovan Carrillo, of Mexico, competes during the men's short program figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Donovan Carrillo, of Mexico, competes during the men's short program figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Carrillo said he was so excited when he landed his first jump – a quad toe loop – that he had to tell himself to refocus in order to finish his routine.

He also pulled off his difficult triple axel, though he was dinged for a triple lutz-triple toe when he took an extra step, but that turned out to be the only real blemish in an otherwise strong program.

“I was super happy,” Carrillo said of his opening jumping pass. “I tried to calm a little bit because I had the whole program.”

Carrillo showed off his national pride throughout his performance, which was set to music by the band Santana. His blade covers displayed the green, white and red colors of the Mexican flag, and he wore a sparkly black and gold costume custom-made by Mexican fashion designer Edgar Lozzano, who offered it to Carrillo for free.

It was a soaring moment for a country that lacks a figure skating culture. In fact, there are no Olympic-sized rinks in Mexico, and macho attitudes often disapprove of male skaters in particular.

“We have some challenges in Mexico. One of the challenges that we have, it’s sometimes people think that the artistic sports are only for women, so that’s something I had to fight when I was a kid,” Carrillo said. “I always skate because it was something that I was enjoying.”

The 22-year-old is originally from Guadalajara but moved with his coach to Leon when he was 13 because his hometown rink shut down. These days, he practices at a rink in the Plaza Mayor mall – yes, a mall — sometimes dodging families that are simply there for fun. His side hustle is teaching ice skating lessons there, too.

Carrillo will get one more chance on an Olympic-sized sheet of ice on Thursday, when he performs his longer free skate.

Even though Carrillo had a historic showing for Mexico, he understands that his performance will ultimately land him far off the podium. His score of 79.69 on Tuesday was far behind that of American leader Nathan Chen, who shattered the world record with 113.97 points in the short program and is just one solid performance away from the gold medal.

That doesn’t discourage Carrillo, who is eager to improve.

“I think this Olympics – thinking more in the future – are going to be key to prepare myself for the next Olympic cycle, with the main focus on Milan 2026,” he said.

___

More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Report Error Submit a Tip

Olympics

LOAD MORE