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Osmar Olvera didn’t want to remember the day in March 2019 when his heart stopped for a few minutes. The diver, billed as Mexico’s star at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, would no longer exist if a member of his diving team hadn’t seen him collapse and sink to the bottom of the pool.
Osmar was less than 15 years old when death loomed before him. When the dramatic scene happened, he had just arrived at the Chinese Majin diving team, which was training at the Ceforma aquatic facility in the mayor’s office in Tlalpan, south of Mexico City. After the training, she asked him to swim 100 meters in an apnea, that is, holding his breath while swimming.
Exercise apnea is risky because immersion is free lunging, but it is common in certain disciplines because it helps focus and muscle relaxation, improving the athlete’s lung capacity. Osmar followed the instructions, but the distance was not enough for him. Without telling anyone, he decided to swim the 200 meters alone, but he was unable to complete it.
“I just remember looking behind the wall and saying, ‘I’m coming, two more strokes.’ All of a sudden I fell asleep. I remember getting up and pumping water out of my mouth and nose while they were doing CPR on me. My first reaction was to cry because I was training so hard for the competition and that was the first thing that came to my mind. No matter what was going to happen to me, I was worried about whether I would be able to compete. I was very passionate about everything related to sports,” Osmar Olvera said.
No one knows the name of the anonymous diver either. He was a hero, having performed first aid on him before he was rushed to hospital, where his eyes were red and bloody from a stroke. He breathed as he worked. His lungs were still full of water. A day later, doctors informed him that he was not seriously injured and should go home to rest.
“They told me my heart stopped for a minute or two and I knew I could have stayed there, I could have died. It was difficult but I think things happen for a reason. Now I’m here and I think I was born to dive. “It’s a miracle to be alive.”
Osmar Olvera Ibarra saw the first light of day in Mexico City on June 5, 2004, but was reborn five years ago. He is the athlete who most wants Mexico to appear in the medal table at the Paris Olympics, and he is happy to know that.
Olvera reminds of the Mexican sports legend, diver Joaquín Capilla, who won four Olympic medals, two of which came in Melbourne in 1956, both on the platform and springboard. In his second Olympic Games, Osmar Olvera will compete for two gold medals in the synchronized 3-meter springboard on Friday, August 2, together with Juan Manuel Celaya. On Tuesday the 6th he will do it in the individual test.
In the synchronized events, the opponents that Mexico will have to beat will be the Chinese and British combination, which presents almost the same series of six long jumps. In the individual events, it will be against the Chinese athletes Xie Siyi and Wang Zongyuan, who won gold and silver medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, without forgetting the German Rudiger and the British Jack Lauer. To reach the podium in these tests, the score must be above 500 points.
Osmar Olvera had a competitive mentality that bordered on the extraordinary. His talent and drive propelled him to excel at a young age. His ultimate goal from a young age was to defeat the all-conquering Chinese team, which routinely won all the gold medals allotted at the Olympics, and often included silver. The Mexican wanted more than just a medal, he aspired to be an Olympic champion.
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Excerpt from the report published in the magazine’s issue 0014 processcorresponding to August 2024, a digital copy of which can be purchased here Relationship.
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