May 24, 2018 500 AM
MEXICO CITY – Mexican sport had never won a title in the U-20 women’s race walking World Cup until Alegna González did just that on May 6, 2018, when she overcame the last stage in the Taicang, China test, making her an Olympic hopeful.
A native of Ojinaga, Chihuahua, the 18-year-old athlete moved to Mexico City three years ago. She is supported by the Secretary of the Navy and is trained by Ignacio Zamudio, the same instructor who trained Valeria Ortuño, a medalist in the Youth Olympic Games, and Yanelli Caballero, a world youth medalist. “My goal is to achieve the first place in the World Athletics Championship, which will be in Finland (July 10-15),” said Gonzalez said. “My strategy was to go in the leading group while I felt comfortable, then they started dashing. It was difficult for me, I suffered, but I made it,” she commented on her 10-kilometer victory in China.
Gonzalez is a Sports Science student. She won 10-kilometer races last year in the Pan American Cup in Peru (45:17 minutes) and this season she won the Monterrey Challenge (45:20). The weekend of the World Cup she set a North-American record with 45:08.
“She is a very mature girl for her age, she´s serious, disciplined and has had good marks,” stated Antonio Lozano, president of the Mexican Federation of Athletics Associations (FMAA).
“We have to be careful, because when she enters into the senior category she will face race walkers who have an advantage of 12 years of training. She is a girl who has already done 20 kilometers (1:33:43 hours, in the Czech Republic) and who is a hopeful for the Olympics in 2024.”
Gonzalez has the fifth best record in the world in 10km, in the Sub 20 category with a mark of 45:08, while in the only 20km that she participated in the senior category she ranked as the third best Mexican in 2018.
