Manuel Youshimatz

Manuel Youshimatz won the bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, but before achieving that ultimate achievement in his sports career, the former athlete dabbled in other disciplines, but without success. He even played soccer where he remembers being disappointed when he could not score a goal, even with the goal wide open.

"The truth is that I was pretty bad. Rarely did I touch the ball during a game. On one occasion, I remember it very well, the ball came to my feet and I found myself in front of the goalkeeper with all the advantages to finally score a goal... I missed! I bypassed the goalkeeper and then I wanted to hit the ball so hard, that I sent it over the frame. It made me so angry that I left the field and told my dad: I'm not playing soccer again," said Youshimatz.

Manuel also tried playing volleyball and basketball, but due to his short stature, he stopped playing them, and then he tried baseball where he had a better performance playing as a first baseman.

Finally, on January 6, 1973, Youshimatz became interested in cycling. That day his father gave him and his brothers baseball bats, gloves, and balls, and the following Sunday he woke them up early to sign them up for the Maya League. Manuel, along with his brothers, went to catch the bus on the sidewalk of Aragón Park, and suddenly, some kids pedaled quickly past them, competing in a promotional children's race organized by the Gustavo A. Madero Municipality.

"When I saw those kids wearing flashy uniforms of all colors and moving at full speed, something incited me to participate, and I told my father: I want to race," said the Olympic medalist.

So that same day, Manuel went to get the maroon bike with which he ran errands for his mother, and he participated in that race where he finished second in his respective category, and it was then that Youshimatz said goodbye to baseball to dedicate himself to cycling.

However, the former cyclist also had a history in athletics. Manuel competed in the 100-meter races in junior high school, but always finished in last place. "One day my physical education teacher yelled at me: Oh, Manuel... You will never be anything in life! And then she failed me," he said.

After that, Manuel set out to prove the teacher wrong, and he did so over time, gradually positioning himself nationally and globally.