Country Report: Mexico’s Beijing Bound Athletes

The infighting among Mexico’s sports officials which we blogged about earlier has not prevented Mexican athletes, 66 of them to date, from qualifying for the Olympics.

Mexico is aiming to send 85 athletes to Beijing which would be lower than the 114 athletes who competed during the Athens Olympiad where Mexico bagged four gold medals, two silvers, and two bronzes.

The reduced number of athletes is mainly due to Mexico’s failure to qualify in baseball as well as in men’s and women’s football/soccer.

If you’re wondering about Mexico’s prospects in the Olympics? Here’s what the head of its delegation thinks:

“We cannot forecast how many medals we are going to win, it is not prudent to do it because we are trying to solve this Olympic cycle. We calculate seven or nine finals, and like I have said, anything can happen in a final.”

Xinhua reports that, among South American countries, Mexico has the fifth highest number of athletes who qualified for the Olympics; it follows Brazil with 204 athletes classified, Cuba with 133, Argentina with 122 and Venezuela with 94.

More from Xinhua: Some Mexican athletes that have chances to win medals in Beijing 2008 include diver Paola Espinosa in the 10 meters platform, who won three gold medals in Rio de Janeiro 2007, and she also obtained the same three medals in Bangkok, Thailand’s World University Games of 2007.

Another medal hope is taekwondo athlete Maria del Rosario, who won China’s Taekwondo competition in the 72 kilograms category, among other events in 2007, and sailing athlete Tania Elias Calles, among others.