Yermaín Fernández: Mexican Para-Athlete Ready to Defend His Gold Title

Yermaín Fernández is one of the 10 Mexican para-athletes who will represent the country in the upcoming World Wheelchair Dance Sport Championship. However, unlike his teammates, he will be defending his gold medal from the 2015 Rome competition.

In an interview for La Aficion, Yermaín shared his experience in a discipline that has little notoriety in our nation. He also provided details about the tournament he will be participating in.

"I tried other sports, but I didn't feel identified," said the 21-year-old athlete, explaining how he got involved in para-dance. His first encounter with this discipline happened when he received an invitation from the national coach to a Mexican team training session: "I went to a para-dance training and I was quickly captivated."

The dancer from Ecatepec, State of Mexico, won a gold medal in the Freestyle category at the 2015 Rome World Championship. This year, the event will take place in Maasmechelen, Belgium, where he will not only defend his title, but also compete in the Combi, Duo, and Five Rhythms Freestyle divisions. "The expectations are high; it's a tough competition, but not impossible. I hope to win all six events," he said.

He also emphasized one of the issues they must face is the economic aspect: "We have the support of the federation, but many times we have to rely on public or private entities to request funds for costumes and chair modifications." Despite this, he understands the situation: "We have several disciplines, which means multiple international competitions. It's understandable; at the end of the day, distributing the funds given to the federation among all specialties can be somewhat difficult."

Regarding the future of Wheelchair Dance Sport in the country, Yermaín Fernández stated: "Hopefully, in a few years, it will be recognized as the sport it really is because many associations don't see it that way; this is high-performance, it requires physical, mental, and psychological work." To contribute to the growth of this specialty, the dancer believes that the potential of the new generations is crucial: "There was and there is talent; the new kids show a lot of ability in competitions. This is going up, it's growing."

The World Para Dance Championship will take place on October 21 and 22 in Belgium. "We hope this will be a favorable competition for Mexico, to achieve the desired results. We're giving it our all," concluded the freestyle champion.