Alejandra Orozco and Randal Willars bid to prolong Mexico’s diving dynasty at Paris 2024
Despite being at very different stages of their career, the two Youth Olympic gold medallists share dreams of making the podium in Paris
Diving
Alejandra Orozco and Randal Willars will be hoping to extend Mexico’s record of making the podium in diving at the last four Olympic Games.
While just five years separate the platform divers in age, there is a huge gulf between the pair when it comes to experience.
Should she be selected for Paris 2024, Orozco will make her fourth Olympic appearance having been just 15 when she won 10m synchro silver with Paola Espinosa at London 2012.
At Tokyo 2020, Orozco took bronze with Gaby Agundez in the same event with both women securing quota spots for Mexico in the individual 10m platform by reaching the final at July’s Fukuoka World Aquatics Championships.
Willars, Youth Olympic champion at Buenos Aires 2018, has made his big breakthrough this year and – after injury and a selection controversy ended his hopes of going to Tokyo – is seeking “vengeance” by making Paris.
The 21-year-old teamed up with Kevin Berlin to take synchro bronze in Fukuoka and secure one of the three available quota berths in that event. He then reached the individual final to earn another quota for Mexico.
He and Orozco, who won Youth Olympic mixed team gold at Nanjing 2014, are now targeting more medals at the Santiago Pan American Games.
Alejandra Orozco hopes to surpass Paola Espinosa’s Olympic medal tally in Paris
Only three Mexicans have won three or more medals at the Olympic Games – Maria Espinoza (three in taekwondo), Humberto Mariles (three in equestrian) and Joaquin Capilla (four in diving).
Orozco can join that elite group in Paris and go clear of former teammate Paola Espinosa who won bronze at Beijing 2008 before successfully joining forces with the youngster in London.
Espinosa, world individual platform champion in 2009, won no fewer than 15 medals – including eight golds – across five Pan American Games.
She retired after missing out in the national selection trial for the Tokyo Games in 2021, and Orozco and Agundez took bronze just ahead of Canada’s Meaghan Benfeito and Caeli McKay who had beaten them to gold at the 2019 Pan American Games.
Discussing her two Olympic medals, Orozco told Record this year, “They are different medals with distinct tastes. For the silver, I was an innocent girl with plenty of enthusiasm. But we built the one in Tokyo on a lot of hard work, sweat, tears and effort. We suffered many bumps and setbacks along the way so it had a special flavour.”
They almost missed this year’s World Championships after government funding cuts meant they would have to pay for their own flights to Japan.
But after going on national radio to say they were considering selling their medals from Tokyo to fund their travel and other expenses, airline Aeromexico stepped in to transport the whole team for free.
Orozco and Agundez were fourth in the synchro final in Fukuoka, just missing out on the podium and a quota spot, before finishing seventh and fourth respectively in the individual competition.
At two previous Pan American Games, Orozco has amassed three medals – synchro bronze at Toronto 2015 and synchro silver and individual bronze at Lima 2019.
McKay and new partner Kate Miller will present the main opposition in Santiago with the former taking individual bronze in Fukuoka.
In a speech reported by the EFE news agency, Orozco insisted earlier this month that she remains as determined as ever to win medals despite her advancing years.
She said, “I have been through three Olympic cycles and my body has some failings, but I still have the enthusiasm and the level to fight for gold in Santiago and for another Olympic medal at Paris 2024.
“Gaby and I have worked for many years. We have a union, a camaraderie and an understanding in and out of the pool. We have different histories, but we are united by the same dream and have the ability to achieve it.
“A third Olympic medal is a dream, but I focus more on work.”
Alejandra Orozco (L) and Gaby Agundez compete in women's 10m synchro qualification at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships
Randall Willars – making up for lost time
Mexico’s divers have endured a difficult few years, first with the pandemic and then the imposition of sanctions by World Aquatics against the Mexican Swimming Federation which prompted funding cuts from the national sports’ commission (CONADE).
But Randall Willars has suffered more than most.
After winning gold in Buenos Aires, the youngster was dogged by injuries. Despite that, he and Ivan Garcia managed to earn a 10m synchro quota spot for Mexico by finishing second at the Tokyo World Cup in May 2021 after just two months of training together. Willars also finished second in the individual event to win another quota berth.
But the places at the Olympic Games were determined by a later selection trial and, while not fully fit, he was fourth in the individual and second with Garcia in the synchro.
That meant, like Espinosa, he missed out.
Driven by that experience, he has since established himself as Mexico’s top diver and a real medal prospect in Paris.
He told ESTO newspaper in June, “It does taste like vengeance to me, even though I was young in the Tokyo Olympic cycle. I was in a good place technically, I had everything I needed to do well. Unfortunately, it happened and there are good and bad competitions.
"The truth is I’ve worked a lot on those aspects, on the mistakes that are often made in competitions. To be more stable, more complete in my diving and obviously a bit more mature in this Olympic cycle.”
Working under Chinese coach Shi Qingying, Willars was another beneficiary of the free flights to Fukuoka as he took synchro bronze with Kevin Berlin before finishing eighth in the individual final.
Despite that success, he remains ineligible for a scholarship from CONADE and was only able to go to August’s Diving World Cup Super Final in Berlin thanks to financial assistance from actor Karla Souza.
In Berlin, he and Diego Balleza – whose expenses were paid by another actor, Martha Higareda - took bronze. And while grateful for the support, Willars hopes his Paris preparations are fulfilled by more conventional means.
“Karla and Martha are not our official sponsors for all the competitions,” he told Yahoo Noticias. “We don’t know what will happen next year and if we’ll be able to take part in all the events leading up to the Olympic Games. Hopefully, the resources will be available and we can demonstrate the skills required.”
Going into his first Pan American Games, Willars is well aware that winning medals in Santiago can only bolster his case for support and funding as he builds towards his Olympic debut in Paris.