Enriqueta Basilio, the Mexican who changed the Olympic Games dies

Enriqueta Basilio, who left her name inscribed in the history of sport, not only in Mexico but in the entire world, has died this October 26th at the age of 71.

Norma Enriqueta Basilio Sotelo, considered the best Mexican athlete of her time, was born in Mexicali, Baja California, on July 15th 1948 and died in Mexico City, just one day before of the anniversary of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games Mexico 1968, the first ones that took place in Latin America, a sport event that put her on the cusp and in which the history of women’s participation was split in two.

The organization had made the decision to break the habit of having a man light the Olympic cauldron, but they were not clear who the woman would be, according to an interview published on the BBC, Enriqueta said:  “They never told me anything direct. There was a competition in Cuba and I had a good performance, so they asked me what I thought of bearing the flame. I told them that as always it had been men, there were very good ones to do it, like Felipe Muñoz,” said the first and only Mexican to win a gold medal in swimming. However, she was the chosen one, a designation that was not well received by many athletes in the country, for, among other things, being a woman, for her short career and little experience and for being originally from a city far from the capital.

At the end, her few, but good results, led her to be chosen to carry the Olympic Torch and subsequently to light the cauldron at the Mexico Olympic Games 1968, becoming the first woman who had such a great honor, although she, at her young age, did not understand the greatness of the responsibility she had. All this happened in the emblematic University Olympic Stadium before 100,000 spectators on October 12th.

Enriqueta’s medal options were minimal, as she herself acknowledged that she had only participated in two international tournaments, the Pan-American Games Winnipeg, Canada 1967 and in an event held in Cuba in 1968.

Enriqueta, who was only 20 years old, climbed the 93 steps, and there, at the top, at 12:50 hours, she moved the torch pointing to the four cardinal points and lit the cauldron, marking undoubtedly a before and after, to the most important multisport event in the world. Since then she was known as the ‘Flying Goddess’. That day she said “I was born to the world the day I lit the Olympic cauldron”.

In Mexico ‘68, there were 5,516 athletes from 112 countries, 4,735 were men and 781 women, who participated in 172 disciplines across 20 sports.

In 2004, she had again the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch, during its time in Mexico, before arriving in Athens, and last year, she repeated the lighting of the cauldron, this time for the Marathon of Mexico City.

In terms of sports, she was one of the best athletes at the 80m hurdles, being a national champion, although she also participated in the 400m and the 4x100m relay, actually, representing her country in these three events at the Olympic Games.

Off the track, she was a permanent member of the Mexican Olympic Committee, also she organized every year tours for peace and sport, which are made to celebrate the anniversary of the organization of the Olympic Games in her country.

After the Olympic Games in Mexico, her results were not very memorable and she never again participated in the Olympic Games.

 

Culled from AIPS.COM

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