19 March 2023
Winter
Mexicans in Seefeld: Road to Olympia
It is hardly surprising to encounter top athletes training on the trails of the Seefeld region. However, it is quite unusual that two Mexican biathletes are also doing their rounds there. What their path to the Olympics has to do with a Tyrolean alpine descent, and why Mexico even has a biathlon team? I had the opportunity to meet the two exceptional athletes, Chris and Raul, during a training break at Arena365.
It’s one of those winter days where the sun already promises a bit of spring, and the sky stretches cloudless over the ski trails at Seekirchl. In 1964 and 1976, the Olympic Winter Games took place here, and today about 245 perfectly groomed kilometers of ski trails connect the five villages on the high plateau. A true cross-country skiing paradise, as the two Mexican biathletes Chris Gómez Mateos and Raul Antonio Figueroa express joy while they run directly into my arms on the freshly groomed A1 trail, sporting wide smiles and even wider beards. Their cheerful mood is contagious, and their laughter is as loud and genuine as one would expect from two true caballeros. Having already completed their morning run training for today, they first head to lunch before going to the biathlon shooting range in the Arena365, but first, lunch awaits – and the wide smiles of both will soon grow even bigger.
From the shooting range to Seefeld
From the sun terrace at the tennis lodge, you can see far over the slopes in the Möser Valley, and at the edge of the forest rise the two ski jumps, just below lies the biathlon training course. We have really come a long way, grins Raul, carefully leaning his sports weapon against the table. I am completely fascinated by the high-tech device; this weapon has little in common with our traditional Tyrolean shooters. Although shooting has a long-standing tradition here, biathlon occupies a comparatively niche existence.
The two biathletes can also sing a funny little song about this - their careers actually began at a shooting range of such Tyrolean shooters. When they visited an alpine cattle drive in the Zillertal in 2018, they simply saw enough cows there and aimed instead directly at a shooting booth. There, the two then hit the target so successfully that the equally surprised operator immediately predicted a steep biathlon career for them. Although they had never stood on a trail before, the sport intrigued them immediately. The rest is already history today, the two biathletes grin.
Yes, you can!
In 1988, a Jamaican bobsled team made international headlines and then hilariously entered Hollywood film history with Cool Runnings; many thought it was a joke: No snow, no winter sports, it’s that simple! Thirty years later, these two Mexicans in Seefeld are attempting a very similar stunt, also here with a truly crazy goal: the Olympics. "It’s exactly the same – just with shooting and mustaches!" laughs Raul, and Chris adds: "We wanted to break the entrenched structures in elite sports and also inspire others that you can really achieve anything: Yes, we can! In "funky German" (Tyrolean) it’s about "Des geat scho"! With the training facilities in Seefeld, we are also really spoiled – it feels like coming home every time."
Mexican Biathlon Team - Chris and Raul
Higher, faster, further road.
For both of them, it’s not at all about the "podium" (victory stand), but solely about the joy of sport. Instead of crawling for two kilometers in an hour ("we would have been faster on all fours"), the two biathlon Mexicans are already running ten a year later. "We drove to the competitions in Sweden and Norway in a rental car, with used racing suits and only two pairs of skis," Chris recalls, shaking his head. "We are a crazy two-man show, each with 40-hour jobs, and Chris has become a father now, and then there was also Corona," Raul points out.
That the virus even threw a spanner in the works for them at the Olympics doesn't faze the Mexican zeal at all: "Cortina 2026, you can count on us!" they send out towards Italy. And then the shoes are already clicking into their bindings, because after lunch is before training! I would definitely prefer lying down, but the two biathletes set a really good pace on the trail. When I finally puffing reach the training area of Arena365, the two are already smiling at the shooting range. Do the two also train here in the summer on the roller ski track? "Of course! But only with full-face helmets and mountain bike pads!" they laugh. "Especially going downhill and braking is so much nicer on snow - you fall so much softer." lively memories follow.
Seefeld: Sports at the highest level
Of course, the two enjoy certain freedoms in top-level sports that others can only dream of: optimal training conditions at Arena365 – here, even complete beginners are allowed to participate in the biathlon taster training, the two professionals joke. They are completely free when it comes to running too – in winter on the seemingly endless trails of the region and in summer on the ski roller track. Even their style is self-designed and stands out – green, violet, and gold, adorned with the royal feathers of the Aztecs. This way, the two likable top athletes can be recognized immediately everywhere from Seefeld to Cortina. Before the Olympics, however, they will first compete in the next Ganghoferlauf in Leutasch. In any case, we have already made a fixed appointment for the largest and oldest running event in Austria. But only if I get an Aztec suit too.
Mexican Biathlon Team - Concentration Before the Start
Chris collects stories. Whether by bike, snowboard or mountain boot - out and about in nature, the journey is always the destination. The office fits into the backpack, so you are at home in the world. Moments become memories in words and pictures and the most beautiful moments tell themselves. By a crackling open fire, under a twinkling starry sky or in the glowing red evening sun between imposing Alpine peaks.
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