Paris, Jul 30 (EFE).- A Kenyan father, a Mexican mother and raised in London. Mexico is tasting the fruits of globalization with judoka Prisca Awiti Alcaraz. With her silver medal in the -63 kilos category, she has marked the history of her adopted country without being predestined to do so.
Never before had Mexican judo reached such a high level. Not even with the legendary Vanessa Zambotti, who in the +78 category participated in four consecutive Games without ever finishing among the top eight (Athens-2004, Beijing-2008, London-2012 and Rio-2016).
From the tatami of the Champ de Mars, just a short distance from the Eiffel Tower, the London-born judoka is aware that she got there because of the decisions – not at all obvious – she made.
Born in London in 1996, Awiti Alcaraz did not have a love-at-first-sight relationship with Mexico. She herself told us about it in 2020. “My weight class was very competitive in the United Kingdom, I was very stressed, close to quitting. Then my coach asked me if I could get the Mexican passport.”
The Londoner then called the Mexican Judo Federation and completed the paperwork in three months. The adaptation was not a bed of roses. “My Spanish was not very good and I had a language barrier, it was very frustrating, especially with my coach,” she said.
Since 2017, when he was 21 years old, he began to wear the Mexican colors internationally, a country where he has spent long stays.
Judo wasn’t her first love either. Awiti Alcaraz’s brother Philip was a student, but she was more interested in gymnastics, where she competed for the UK under-12 team.
“My older brother, who was a high-performance judoka who won Grand Slam medals and competed in World Championships, was a huge inspiration. I grew up seeing him as my idol and I wanted to achieve what he did or even more,” he said in a recent statement to the Mexican government.
Putting a stop to machismo in Mexico
Before her unexpected success on the Parisian tatami, the Mexican-British player had made her debut at the Games in Tokyo with a 17th place, after losing to Mongolian Gankhaich Bold. Her CV was already adorned with other good results with her adopted country.
She won the Pan American Open in Santiago (2019); two gold medals at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo and Lima (2022); and another gold medal at the Lima Open (2023). She finished fifth in the 2023 world rankings (she is currently eighteenth).
Her favourite manoeuvre is the Seoi-Otoshi throw lock and she is currently trained by Jorge Luis Atencio Ramírez, after having been under the orders of the Cuban Olympic medallist Daima Beltrán (silver in Sydney-2000 and in Athens-2004 in the +78 kilos).
But Awiti Alcaraz’s achievement goes beyond the tatamis. She wants to show the way for other Mexican women.
“We can be warriors, strong. Mexico is traditionally a country where women stay at home. Friends of my parents still have that culture, but now we see how some men cook and share responsibilities. The culture, little by little, is becoming more egalitarian,” she told the International Judo Federation.
Antonio Torres del Cerro
(c) EFE Agency
