Paris 2024 is already in history and now Mexican athletes are beginning to glimpse what the road to Los Angeles 2028 will be like. A process that for many will begin uphill due to adjustments in their Conade scholarships, Well, almost half of the delegation that was in Paris -54 out of 109- It will barely have support that does not exceed 12 thousand pesos per month.
Even 40 of the 109 athletes who went to Paris (which represents 37 percent) will barely receive the minimum amount, which is six thousand pesos, as they are left out of the top 16 of their sports disciplines. In that case there are some athletes with an important career such as Laura Galván, the marathoner Citlali Moscote and the pentathlete Mariana Arceo, who a few weeks ago had a poor performance and will have to start from the bottom.
Another 14 athletes will receive from seven to 12 thousand pesos per month, while seven more will have a scholarship of 13 thousand to 20 thousand pesos.
Few in the elite
Only four athletes from the Mexican delegation will be receiving the highest amounts granted by Conade, which exceed 40 thousand pesos per month. In this select list are the individual silver medalists, such as the judoka Prisca Awiti with 52 thousand pesos and the boxer Marco Verde with the same amount. Osmar Olvera is also entitled to 50 thousand pesos for the individual bronze in diving; However, he is waiting for the conflict in Mexican swimming to be resolved, or for Conade to intervene directly, so that he can receive his sports scholarship again.
Juan Celaya is in the same situation, who achieved silver in synchronized trampoline with Osmar and is entitled to 39 thousand pesos. In total, there are 48 athletes of those who went to Paris 2024 (which means 44 percent) those who now receive more than 21 thousand pesos per month; As is the case of the boxer Ciltali Ortiz, who for her ninth place has a scholarship of 28 thousand pesos, even the taekwondoin Daniela Souza has that same amount even though she lost in the first round but her official result is ninth place .
Tabulator controversy
As expected, several athletes have expressed their disagreement with the amounts of the tabulators imposed by Conade in the operating rules of January 2022; one of them was Alejandra Valencia, who now receives 36 thousand pesos for the Olympic bronze in the women’s archery team10 thousand less than what he received for individual silver in the World Cup.
“The tabulations have to be changed for the future because this cannot be happening.”. I arrived from Paris with a bronze medal and they told me that they lowered my scholarship by 20 percent, being a Central American, Pan American champion and double Olympic medalist; So my claim does not come from nowhere and more than anything it is so that there is a restructuring of how to do scholarships. I already approached Rommel with that issue because that tabulator must be reviewed because if you want a change you must do something different and not do the same thing,” Valencia mentioned.
In addition, Laura Galván showed her annoyance on social networks after Conade let her know that her scholarship would drop to six thousand pesos. and after receiving 22 thousand pesos per month for the silver he achieved at the 2023 Pan American Games.
“It is not surprising that this is done. When they make you sign a document where they tell you that you have to be among the 12 best Olympians, world, etc. For them to determine this, I don’t know what they base it on, but they make you sign weeks or days before events of this type. It really doesn’t make sense when there is a follow-up of not even a previous year, but hey, this has actually always been like this,” said Galván, who finished in 20th place in the five thousand meter dash.
Rommel’s promise
The new director of Conade, Rommel Pacheco, has already received these concerns and indicated that he will review the tabulators and sees it viable to make some modifications, but not immediately.
“The tabulators are in the operating rules, from what I understand, I believe that a project was sent due to administrative times. I have to review what the project is and what was mandated in the operating rules, and if the Governing Board allows it, also at the appropriate times, see what modifications can be made in the short term. I know that there are things that will be resolved in the short term, some in the medium term and others in the long term. The most important thing is the dialogue with athletes and coaches,” he said.
These amounts will be modified until next year when athletes compete in the World Championshipsand where they must be within the top 16 to enter the tabulators and receive more than six thousand pesos; However, Rommel could already make modifications to the operating rules starting in January 2025.
MGC
