It was kilometer five of the La Candelaria race and Leo Chacón has filled my chest with pride once again. He made a surge that left Mexican Aldo Vega ten meters behind, he won the intermediate sprint and dealt a dose of reality to a great athlete who came to win it all. It didn't matter to him that there was a "favorite" running alongside him; for Leo there are no favorites or impossibilities. Only races that are run with sweat and blood, no matter who's there, no matter who comes. And that, Leo, I thank you for from the bottom of my heart.
Many years ago, long before his remarkable display of courage at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Leo had opened my eyes at some forgotten edition of the Reto Jacó Extremo. He went head-to-head, so to speak, with two Guatemalans who came as great favorites, and for the first time I saw a glimpse of what that tough guy from Liberia was made of: with pure guts he made the Guatemalans suffer until they applied what he himself called "the blender," a series of zigzag movements that allowed one of them to escape for first place. Leo didn't win, but that day I witnessed for the first time the internal fire that La Momia carried inside.
His specialty is not running. But a runner comes from abroad and he goes out to compete shoulder to shoulder even if it's Mo Farah himself running alongside him. And it's not to say "I ran with so-and-so" or to take a selfie after the race. No, you can see in his eyes that he does it to show pride and say "here is Costa Rica, here I am." And if the foreigner is too good and he can only keep up their pace for one kilometer, well it will be a kilometer of blood and fire, a kilometer that comes from the soul so that the other knows he wasn't alone, that he didn't come to Costa Rica for a stroll, that here there are people willing to fight and give their heart for the country.
Everything else is irrelevant. I don't care if he finishes second or last. I only want to see courage, desire, love for what he's doing. Those moments of struggle are worth more than a second or third place won without honor or glory. I would love for Costa Rica to have an athlete who beats everyone who dares to come compete here, but since that's not our reality, it's a pleasure to have an athlete who is at least willing to bleed a little in order to put up a worthy fight.
At La Candelaria I saw athletes of great talent who weren't even 500 meters alongside the Mexican. They fell behind and ran a "safe" race. And I ask myself, why? For a seventh or eighth place? What's the point of that? What's the point of a better place if they didn't even bother to fight for a moment? If they already knew they couldn't keep up with the Mexican, it would have been wonderful if they had shown a little pride and at least troubled him during the first few kilometers.
But there wasn't that much desire. There wasn't even a slight intention. It doesn't seem like there are many more athletes who carry the strength that Leo carries inside. Gustavo Mora put up a fight for a few kilometers too, but there's a need for more, so much more! I think for a moment, where would this country be athletically if all athletes burned inside the way Leo burns in every race? If they carried that fire, that desire to give absolutely everything in every competition? How many medals wouldn't we have won by now? But don't listen to me, they're just questions in the air. I'm just saying, I wish everyone were like Leo…
