Mexican athlete Karla Ximena Serrano raised the name of our country by proclaiming herself champion in the 10,000-meter walk of the U-20 World Championships in Athletics, which takes place in Cali, Colombia.
The 18-year-old athlete showed in the opening moments of the event that she would fight for gold by catching up with the leaders who had escaped.
Serrano claimed the title in a thrilling final against Japan’s Ai Ooyama, the pair separated by less than a tenth of a second in a battle to the last meter.
“I felt the pressure of my competitors, I strode all the way and in the end, I was able to win the gold. I am very happy, good teamwork is what makes us champions, we always want to win, we are used to it and it’s exciting to win the gold in a foreign country competing against the best in the world. I feel very proud for me and for my country”, she highlighted in an interview with the Mexican Federation of Athletics Associations (FMAA).
For Ximena Serrano, 18, the Cali 2022 World Cup meant her first appearance in a contest of this magnitude, where she appeared as a strong contender against the Asians, who were leading the competition at the Pascual Guerrero Stadium and which brought together 41 athletes.
Karla Ximena Serrano becomes the third consecutive youth world champion that Mexico has under the direction of coach Ignacio Zamudio Cruz, after what was achieved by Sofía Ramos in Nairobi 2021 and Alegna González in Tampere 2018.
¡Grande, Karla! 👏
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 5, 2022
Karla Ximena Serrano 🇲🇽 strikes 10,000m race walk gold for Mexico in 46:24.35!#WorldAthleticsU20 @FMAAmx pic.twitter.com/JDCDFsYG5w
Source: Excelsior
