By Carlos Ramírez Zago
Paola Longoria
Paola Michelle Longoria López, born in San Luis Potosí, is considered the best racquetball player in history.
Her discipline is not as recognized as others, since racquetball is not part of the Olympic disciplines, therefore her name is not as well known as other athletes, but there has not been another Mexican athlete who dominates her discipline as Longoria does in racquetball.
She has been world champion five times (2012, 2014, 2016, 2021, and 2022); has finished the year as world number one in more than 11 seasons; has been a multiple gold medalist in Central American and Caribbean Games as well as in Pan American Games; and with 114 titles as a professional, she is considered by many the best Mexican athlete in history.
In addition to winning her fifth world championship, Longoria also obtained the rank of Lieutenant in the Mexican Army and was awarded the National Sports Award for her career a recognition that only three Mexican sportswomen have obtained (Paola Espinosa, Paola Longoria, and María del Rosario Espinoza).
The best of all time!
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes, born in Guadalajara, is considered the best Mexican golfer in history and one of the best golfers the world has ever seen.
She made the leap to professional at a very young age where she played in the LPGA (the professional women’s golf tour) between 2002 and 2010 and managed to win 27 titles—two of which were Majors: the British Open (2007) and the Kraft Nabisco Championship (2008).
She was named Rookie of the Year in 2003 by the LPGA and for four consecutive years she was number one in the world holding the record as the player with the most total weeks as number one in the ranking (158).
In 2017, Ochoa was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame being not only the first Mexican to obtain this distinction but also the first Latin American golfer to achieve it.
She is currently a successful businesswoman in addition to promoting children and youth education with her Lorena Ochoa Foundation.
Mexican legend!
Karla Wheelock
Karla Susana Wheelock Aguayo, born in Saltillo, is one of the best Mexican sportswomen in history.
The Mexican mountaineer is recognized for her incredible feats. Wheelock is one of the most outstanding mountaineers in history becoming in 1999 the first Latin American to climb Mount Everest on the North Slope—the most dangerous and complicated part of the mountain.
She also became the first Latin American climber to conquer the Seven Summits: Everest, Aconcagua, Mount McKinley, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Vinson Massif, and Carstensz Pyramid. It took her about 12 years to complete the Seven Summits, from 1993 to 2005, where she also completed the North Pole and the South Pole which, together with the Seven Summits, is known as the «Grand Slam of Alpinism».
Wheelock is one of the 30 people who have achieved this, putting the name of Mexico and Latin America on high.
Currently, she is a lecturer, a promoter of environmental causes, and a social entrepreneur working for the development of Mexican youth. She is also the author of several books, among them: «Las 7 Cumbres» and «El Tercer Polo; Ascensión al Everest.»
An example for everyone!
María del Rosario Espinoza
María del Rosario Espinoza, born in Sinaloa, is one of our best exponents of Tae Kwon Do in Mexico. She holds the honor of being the maximum Mexican medal winner in the history of the Olympic Games with three medals in three different editions of the Olympics.
Del Rosario along with the legendary Mexican weightlifter, Soraya Jimenez, are the only Mexican athletes to have won Olympic gold. She won her gold medal in her first Olympic Games in Beijing 2008. In London 2012 she won the bronze medal; and in Rio de Janeiro, 2016, besides being the flag bearer of the Mexican delegation, she won the silver medal becoming the only Mexican woman to have won a medal in three different Olympics.
She has been World champion (2007); Pan American champion (2007); and Central American champion (2010 and 2014); besides being one of the four Mexican athletes who have received the National Sports Award three times (along with Ana Gabriela Guevara, Paola Espinosa, and Lorena Ochoa). Thus being a great example of Tae Kwon Do and sport in Mexico.
For the history books!
