Langley (Canada), – The Mexican Lorenza O’Farrill, who will be part of the jumping team from her country that will compete in the Pan American Games in Lima in July, said today that the main objective is to play a good role in the continental competition to get the qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
O’Farrill, who has become an inspiration in the sport to recover fully after a serious accident that affected the spine, also said in an interview with Efe that the Mexican team has changed their mentality for the better.
“For us, the Pan American Games are very important because they are the qualification for the Olympiad and I think Stanny (Van Paesschen, team leader from Mexico) has done a great job and we see a very solid team,” declared the rider at the Thunderbird Park Show. from Langley, about 50 kilometers southeast of Vancouver.
The Mexican team led by Van Paesschen participated in the Longines Nations Cup of Langley and after the competition Mexico secured the pass to the final of the Nations Cup to be held one more year in Barcelona in the fall.
O’Farrill is one of the riders that Van Paesschen has chosen to go to Lima. O’Farrill still does not know if he will also be selected for Barcelona.
“We are very close, we know each other, we support each other and we are concentrated to get that qualification and get a medal, first the Pan-American medal, then go to Barcelona, and finally Tokyo,” said the amazon.
Three teams of jump and four individual riders will obtain the pass to the Olympic Games through the Pan-American ones.
O’Farrill joked that he has nicknamed his horse Calvira as a “Tokyo project” because he is confident that in 2020 he will compete in the Japanese capital along with his mare.
“Right now all my energy is focused on that, I would love to go to Barcelona, but first things first,” he added.
O’Farrill attributed the success that Mexico is having in a sport in which it was never a power to a change of mentality.
“It has taken time but an effort has been made to make more equipment and organize, Stanny has been two years since we did not have a team leader before, and the effort is beginning to be felt,” said the rider.
“You make changes when you do not have the results you want, and in Mexico, several riders have pushed to really make a fundamental change,” he continued.
“A year ago they brought me to the team, I had only one year to return to that level after the spine operation, and when I arrived here Stanny told me ‘welcome to the world of men’ because in Mexico only boys ride” he declared.
“I kept the comment and now in Jalapa, Stanny (where the Cup round was held in Mexico) recognized his mistake,” he continued (EFE).
