After her tour in Europe, where she won three medals: one gold, one silver and one bronze, Alejandra Zavala feels that these results are a good argument for the National Commission of Physical Culture and Sport (Conade) to continue supporting her with her international training. This is because Conade, due to the budget cuts to Mexican sports, is in the process of consolidating all requests from national federations regarding camps and competitions.
ALEJANDRA ZAVALA won the World Cups finals last year and her goal is to defend that title in October.
"So far, they have fulfilled everything for me and last year I had a conversation with Alfredo Castillo (director of Conade) in November, where we showed him my competitive plan and he said that everything would be accepted, so I hope it continues that way. I think Conade has to provide support to those athletes who are within the top 10 of the world rankings and where the country has few athletes," said Zavala.
The athlete from Jalisco currently ranks third in the world rankings in the 10-meter air pistol event, and her plan presented to Conade is to remain in those top positions. "If we don't compete, no matter how much an athlete trains all day, they will never be anyone. To be a good athlete, you need to compete, so it is necessary to work hard to have athletes of good level participating in events around the world, so Conade must take care of the money and know where to invest it. Support should also be given to the youth, who also travel to have good preparation for the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina," she added.
Alejandra's goal this year is to compete in three World Cups and in the qualifying event for the Central American and Caribbean Games. All of this will serve as training for the World Championship next year in Korea, an event that will give the first spots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Therefore, all the events she has planned this year are very important to the athlete as she hopes to secure a spot for the next Olympic Games in 2018.
"The truth is that we are working towards that, and obviously it is our long-term goal, to achieve the Olympic quota at the World Championship. That would be the best, because it would speak well of my sporting performance. The first time I obtained the Olympic spot in the Pan American Championships and the second time was in a World Cup, so if it happens now in a world championship, it would speak even better of my level," said the shooter, who finished fourth in Rio 2016.
Thus, Zavala trusts that she will continue to receive support in her camps and competitions, as her scores are improving. "In the three competitions I had in Europe, I achieved very good scores, and every year I go on this tour, where my overall score has been increasing on average, so now I have 384 and a score of 380 is already good. Therefore, I had a very fruitful tour, with very good results. On the last day, I finished with the silver, but with a very good score where I improved the national record with 390 points, which is a very good, high-level score and I was very happy about it. It also shows me that I have started the year in a very good way, with good physical and mental preparation, and that's how I want to continue," she concluded.