Janeth Gómez Valdivia's Road to Paris 2024

A decade after participating in the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, Mexican weightlifter Janeth Gómez Valdivia consolidated the feat at a major level with her qualification to Paris 2024, after securing the tenth position in the ranking in the 59 kilogram category.

“I have many mixed emotions for obtaining the Olympic place, since it is what I have worked for not only this process, but since the previous one and since I started. From the day I set out to go to the Olympic Games, a desire to achieve it began. I can't explain everything I feel at this moment,” she said.

With 223 kilograms total registered and ninth place overall in her division, the Jalisco-born athlete competed this day at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup, held in Phuket, Thailand, the last qualifier of the Olympic process; however, despite not having the desired performance, her performance throughout the process earned her a pass to Paris 2024.

“It was not a good competition in this event. I came to give my all, but it was not given to me; I thank God for keeping me despite everything, because there were many rivals fighting to enter the ranking and I stayed in the top 10, so I am deeply grateful,” she said.

“The preparation for Paris will be at another level, and I look good for it. I will be focused because it is what follows and what I worked for, so I have to enjoy and enjoy that moment, since I left years behind, and I missed many things like stages of my daughter, then it is where I will finish. We athletes fight for that dream with all our heart; I see myself prepared, mentally and with much more desire to make a good representation for my country,” she added.

Full of emotions to achieve her quota to Paris 2024, the runner-up of the Central American Games San Salvador 2023 recalled her experience as a Junior Olympian 10 years ago.

“It gives me great pleasure to remember that 10 years ago I was a Junior Olympian, the difference is that now I am more mature, and I have a little more experience. I'm still polishing details, but the courage and desire will always be there; I love knowing that Paris is waiting for me, and it gives me joy, because everything you have to go through and do to get there is worth it,” she said.

“I dedicate this qualification to God, to my family and of course to my daughter. I know that things are going well because she is happy for every competition and country I go to; that makes me very happy because my fear was that she would reproach me for not having been with her at different times. Fortunately, she is pretty and humble, and she loves to know that I am going to Paris. I also dedicate it to the people who supported me from the beginning and had faith in me, besides still following me on this path,” she concluded.

To prepare herself to the maximum and reach the highest level for the Olympic competition, Gómez Valdivia will be training at the Centro Nacional de Desarrollo de Talentos Deportivos y Alto Rendimiento (CNAR).