Olympic reporters of ‘La Jornada’ awarded

Mexico City. The coverage of the Olympic Games sometimes goes beyond the sporting aspect and its work reaches the category of historical and social testimony. The reporters of The Day Rosalía A. Villanueva and Adriana Díaz are among the 15 women, among dozens of male journalists, recognized yesterday by the Association of Mexican Olympians for their emblematic work in the Atlanta 1996 and Tokyo 2020 editions.

We are not going to the Olympic Games to applaud, our job is to inform, we are going to look for the story, to do our job with the utmost professionalism.said Villanueva, who with 32 years of experience is one of the pioneers in Mexican sports journalism and now coordinates the Sports section of The Day.

Covering the Olympic Games is a hard-earned experience. It took me 12 years to go to one. When you go, you don’t sleep, you don’t rest, you don’t eat, you walk many kilometers, but you don’t suffer because you do what you like.said Díaz as an example of how journalists must be prepared not only in the field of sports, but also to face unexpected situations such as explosions or a pandemic.

In Atlanta 1996 we went from joy to terrorrecalled Villanueva, who already had experience covering Barcelona 1992.

On July 26, 1996, there was jubilation in Mexico because Bernardo Segura won bronze in the 20-kilometer race walk; the only medal for the tricolors in that edition. But everything changed in the early hours of the morning.

An explosion during a concert in Centennial Park at 1:20 a.m. on July 27, 1996, which left more than 100 injured and two dead, changed the focus of reporters in Atlanta covering the Olympics.

Rosalía A. Villanueva, along with Jorge Sepúlveda, who also received recognition yesterday, were doing their first coverage for this publishing house at a summer fair and were surprised by the outbreak.

They had just finished a long day of more than 12 hours of work. They had seen Bernardo Segura climb onto the podium, the unexpected defeat of the race walker Daniel García, who did not meet the expectations of being a favourite, and the birth of Fernando Platas as a promising diver. They were returning from the competitions shortly after midnight when they faced the anguish and challenge of more complex coverage.

It was a time when the Internet was just beginning to be used and there were no social networks; information had to be obtained in the field. Editors demanded reports about the bombing from a distance, but ground zero was cordoned off and no media had access.

With the explosion, security was increased. We were all suspects, there were many checkpoints.said Villanueva, who had stayed almost 40 minutes away from Atlanta and found it almost impossible to get around in the early morning.

The rumor was that the Olympics would be cancelled. In the end, the FBI and the CIA did their investigation and the next day everyone acted as if nothing had happened. The only thing we could report was that the Mexican delegation was fine.he said. The rest of the information had to be recovered with the help of international agencies.

The games of silence

Adriana Díaz’s experience was marked by anxiety and distancing. Tokyo 2020 was postponed for a year due to Covid-19, so strict measures were put in place to prevent contagion.

Before leaving, we were asked to take three Covid tests, and we were also subjected to tests every day. There were colleagues who tested positive upon arrival and were isolated; one of them was hospitalized for three weeks.he narrated.

Díaz had journalistic experience in Rio de Janeiro 2016, where the insecurity in the favelas contrasted with the Olympic celebration.

In Tokyo, the organisation was careful and precise, but due to the pandemic, for the first time in the history of the Games there were no fans in the stands, which created a chilly, bleak atmosphere.

Both Villanueva and Díaz agree that the vision for covering the Olympic Games has changed. Now, with social media, many reporters focus on sending live videos, without doing in-depth research.

Now everything is in real time, but journalistic work is about looking for stories, something that hooks, knowing how to capture it and making sure it is well written.Villanueva noted. Even if hours have passed, some media outlets bring the same note the next day: who won and by how many points, but you have to look for a story, something different.Diaz added.

Both have been part of the inclusion and evolution of women in sports journalism, a sector that used to be exclusive to men.

Paving the way

In Atlanta there were very few of us, at that time they still gave us tests to see if we knew about sportsVillanueva recalled, mentioning just five Mexican reporters who also went to the 1996 Games. In Rio there were already more, in Tokyo not all the press went, but we still need to see more women in leadership positions, we already have a female leader in Conade, in the Olympic Committee and a female president in the country.Diaz said.