The historic Colombian cyclist and multiple medalist in Olympic Games, Mariana Pajón, could not advance to the final of the BMX event this Friday after finishing fifth in the first semifinal series, third in the second and seventh in the final to be out of the final of the tournament and without the possibility of fighting for her fourth medal in the Olympic Games.
Pajón, 32, expressed her deep sadness for being left out of this tournament in which she won the gold medals in the London 2012, Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the silver medal in Tokyo 2020, thus ending a historic era for the coffee grower who became one of the maximum exponents of BMX in the world.
“My heart had faith and believed. I lived it with my heart, I gave the best I had, with the responsibility of giving joy to the country (…) This sport is like that, of aggressiveness, but I am very proud of myself,” said Pajón crying during an interview given to Caracol Noticias after being eliminated from the competition.
“It was a roller coaster of illusions, the Olympic road is cruel. My body endured because my heart was beating strong,” added the athlete regarding the difficult road she had to travel to qualify for these games and what each athlete must do to remain among the elite in her discipline.
During an interview with AFP, Pajón ruled out that these are her last Olympic Games and assured that she still has a lot of drive to keep competing and achieving positive results for Colombia.
“I don’t think so, I don’t think so, I think a flame was lit, then I’ll throw it out. I have like many mixed feelings, I’m happy because I got here, because it was not easy, you can not imagine how it was this way, too much pain, for a moment I said I did not deserve so much pain, but I love this and that’s why I’m here, “he said.
“I was very close to that final if it wasn’t for that hit in that first cant in that last heat, it was another story and my mission was to get to that final because when you’re in the final anything can happen and I knew my head could handle that,” he concluded.
Source: Gerardo Romero, https://eldiariony.com