CAMAGÜEY.- Where does a 20-year-old athlete get the strength to get up after several ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis, inflammations in the patellar tendon of one of her knees, three ligament ruptures in her right leg and a COVID-19 infection? Anyone would have resigned, but Davisleydi Velazco "the bomb" that was "implanted" in her chest keeps her jumping in the world elite of a test in which the extraordinary Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas reigns.

Doors inside number 14 of Passage C in the La Ceiba neighborhood of Camagüey, forged that resistance mechanism that led her to land at 14.34 meters in March 2020 and thus ensure her presence in the triple jump event of the Olympic Games from Tokyo. In what was declared the Olympic House this Tuesday, they taught him that "the strength that is needed to be great is carried within it", as stated by her father David Velazco.

He, a member of the cast of the popular musician-dance group Rumbatá, “wanted the girl to be a dancer, but there was no way to separate her from the sport. I remember that at her first major competition, she was impressed by the clothing and footwear of the rivals; I told her that the clothes did not jump and that on the line they were all the same and she was right, because she won. So she has been overcoming fears and obstacles and I have never seen her limits ”.

She says it with the support of having a continental gold and a world bronze that her daughter reaped in lower categories within a few meters and with the confidence that the 14.21 m gave her. that she got last Saturday in Havana, with a few weeks of training after recovering from the Coronavirus.

Although her mother comes from a family of athletes, she also dreamed of seeing her little girl on stage. “I wanted her to be a model, but what's in the blood can't be denied. We educated her with the best we could, but her coaches contributed a lot ”, confesses Águeda Fernández. And that is precisely why she conferred the honor of placing the allegorical sticker on the door of her house to Eusebia Riquelme, her first coach and her second mother.

Águeda says that “sometimes we had to work and Eusebia took care of the girl. Professors Lázaro and Iván also helped her a lot in the first steps of her career, without them her medals would not exist ”. Speaking of awards, both parents understand that qualifying is already a great achievement, but her hopes go further. "If her health accompanies her and she continues to train hard, I think she may be in the final," says David, while the mother believes that "my daughter is no longer afraid of any stadium or rival, no matter how big they are.  If she comes to Japan, she will be to do her best and the others will have to take care of themselves.

Thus, to the rhythm of the rumba and with full force, she pumps the inheritance of the heart into Davisleydi's veins. Perhaps in Tokyo a two-step dance and a jump will fulfill her father's dream and her mother will be satisfied to see her walk and smile gracefully in the Olympic stadium in the land of the rising sun. Neither model, nor dancer, an athlete emerged from the dusty lane of La Ceiba who now finds her first opportunity to explode under the five rings.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez