Four Olympics!
From the 1996 Games to the 2008 Games: I broke ageism!
What did ageism impose?
That at the age of 24 he should not compete in the 2004 Games.
Why not?
“Too old!” She usurped the position of other younger rhythmic gymnasts.
Was that what they accused him of? You resisted…
Until I was 28, when I retired. Today we applaud 30-year-old rhythmic gymnasts: seniority, experience, charm…
Well, you were a pioneer, you paved the way.
More than the medals, the beauty of a new movement, a contribution, matters.
What was yours?
El Cid Tostado, a type of figure, and letting the ball roll from foot to hip, on the ground, without touching it.
Rhythmic gymnastics is very demanding.
I gave up my childhood: I sacrificed experiences with family, birthday parties…
For own will?
When I was five years old I would touch my head with my big toe. And improving myself motivated me. And it continued, it continued…
Nevertheless.
Despite feeling strange, alone, separated because I was different. My classmates went to recess and I made up homework late due to training and competitions.
Without complaining?
I resigned myself in silence. It was wrong: things must be said! Today I learned it.
Today he collaborates against bullying.
I teach that we are all unique and different. And feeling different is not bad, on the contrary: it is good!
Let’s reclaim our oddities!
They are always a value: you must wield them.
With pride.
I was just writing a diary, frustrated…
Tell me about a difficult situation.
“You are fat”. A coach tells you this because you have gone from a girl to a woman and your body changes… “Today, half dinner!”, they prescribed in the gymnasts’ residence.
What a savagery.
Today it is not so much like that, happily.
I don’t want to ask her weight: it can encourage a girl to anorexia.
But anorexias are multifactorial: they mask a hyperperfectionistic, very self-demanding personality…
Yeah?
They feel that any adversity is out of control and they see that there is one thing they can control: what they eat!
And believing they are getting better… they kill themselves.
I stopped competing and soon lost that strong body, and I have had to work hard to accept my new body.
Living is accepting changes?
Yes, look at me, believing that I would always live with my husband… he abandoned me. And there you feel… really shit.
Up to what point?
It seemed to me that my entire being was going down the toilet drain.
But today I see her happy. How has she done it?
Pulling the chain. And the shit is gone. Because the shit was out, the shit wasn’t me! And now everything is clean.
How did you flush the toilet?
Differentiating sacrificial effort.
Explain to me the difference.
I used to go to sacrifice: if sacrifice had given me success in sports…, I should not care about it as a couple!
And he sacrificed himself?
I normalized sacrifice in my personal life. Today I know that I should not save anyone.
Was he dependent?
With my ex I always walked with toes, like in gymnastics. I have learned that no, that in life I walk without toes: it is the effort, deciding in my favor.
I read criticism against you for not having given your husband a child.
It’s horrible to read that, it’s very hard… Nobody knows anything, nothing… I never rejected motherhood!
¿No?
No. But I experienced situations in my relationship that led me…, better yet, led my subconscious to postpone motherhood.
Your subconscious?
It was an intuition, yes. And today I know that my subconscious was right. That it was right to postpone, wait… Time has proven my intuitions right!
What brings you the most joy today?
Theater! I played one of the women who in 1917 inaugurated women’s football, which was then banned until 1971! And it gives me great satisfaction to write Olympia, a character in my stories for girls and boys.
What would you like to convey to them?
That they are not alone with their feelings, that they can share them with others.
If you had a daughter, what would you advise her?
Love your differences! Listen to your intuitions! Be yourself, be you.
