Donavan Carrillo makes history as the first Mexican Olympic figure skater in 3 decades

Donavan Carrillo is making history. On Tuesday, the 22-year-old from Guadalajara, Jalisco, became the first Mexican in 3 decades to advance and qualify for the Olympic finals. The last athlete was Riccardo Olavarrieta, who dropped out after the short program in 1992.

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Donovan will continue his journey in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic finals Thursday in the longer free skate competition. It is a first for Mexico making Donovan the most successful Mexican figure skater in history, per AP.

Donovan’s parents low key manifested their son’s Olympic success, naming him after Jamaican Canadian sprinter and Olympian Donovan Bailey, per Buzzfeed. The skater also had the Olympic glory on his mind, telling AP he idolized Spain’s, Javier Fernandez. Fernandez is the first Spanish figure skater to medal, taking home bronze at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Donovan shared a photo on his Instagram following his achievement and wrote in Spanish, “My face says it all, enjoying every moment of this experience. Very happy also for the qualification to the final, thank you for being part of this dream.” The proud Mexican added, “Mexico always in my heart.”

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The figure skater trained in the central state of Guanajuato and taught ice skating lessons to pay for the expensive sport. The sport is uncommon in Mexico and there are no Olympic-sized rinks in the entire country, per AP.

Donovan told the outlet there is also a “macho attitude” disapproval of male skaters. He explained, “Sometimes people think that the artistic sports are only for women, so that’s something I had to fight when I was a kid because many people at school told me ‘Oh you’re a girl,’ and they sometimes even think that to practice an artistic sport, it’s going to affect your (sexual) preferences as a person.“ I never thought that” Carrillo said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why we don’t have many male skaters in my country.”

You can expect to see him honor Mexico at the finals. Donovan competed Tuesday, with his set backed by the music of his father’s favorite band, Santana.

His black and gold sparkles costume was a costume made by Mexican fashion designer Egar Lozzana and, his blade covers displayed the colors of the Mexican flag. “It’s something that I always try to do with my performance, to involve the Mexican culture,” Carrillo told AP. “Carlos Santana is Mexican. I always try to take on different artists that could help me and motivate me to represent my country,” he added.

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