Germán Madrazo Baca (born 15 September 1974) is a businessman and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

. He competed in the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

. Madrazo is the owner of The Valley Running Company in McAllen, Texas, where he resides.

2018 Winter Olympics

Prior to competing in the 2018 Winter Games, Madrazo was a

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

who competed professionally in a number of events. He became interested in cross-country skiing after reading an article about Peruvian cross-country skier Roberto Carcelén in a sports magazine. He contacted Carcelén to ask for his advice and later travelled to South America where he met other skiers and coaches. Along with Chilean skier Yonathan Jesús Fernández and Tongan skier

Pita Taufatofua Pita Nikolas Taufatofua (born 5 November 1983) is a Tongan athlete in taekwondo, cross-country skiing, and canoe. He is also a UNICEF ambassador and motivational speaker and lives in Brisbane, Australia. Taufatofua became internationally famo ...

, he formed an independent training group in an attempt to qualify for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. The three skiers, under the initiative of Taufatofua, rented a cabin in Hittisau, Austria, and trained for 10 hours daily. He formed part of the Mexican Ski Federation component of the Mexican delegation to the 2018 Olympics, along with alpine skiers

Sarah Schleper Sarah Schleper (born February 19, 1979, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado), also known as Sarah Schleper de Gaxiola, is former American, now Mexican alpine skier with dual Mexican citizenship via her marriage to a Mexican citizen, whose career st ...

and

Rodolfo Dickson Rodolfo "Rudy" Roberto Dickson Sommers (born 11 July 1997) is a male Mexican Canadians, Mexican Canadian alpine skier representing Mexico. He was the first Mexican to win an international ski race, winning in Super-G in January 2015. Personal ...

, and freestyle skier

Roberto Franco Robert "Robby" Franco (born August 23, 1993) is a Mexican-American freestyle skier. He competed for the United States of America in the 2015 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, and for Mexico in the 2017 championships. He represented Mexic ...

. At the opening ceremony in

PyeongChang Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

, Madrazo acted as the flag bearer for team Mexico. Sporting a traditional charro hat, Madrazo received praise for his high "level of happy" at the opening ceremony. Later, Madrazo competed in the Men's 15km Cross-country skiing event. Although Madrazo came in last of those who finished (116), he was once again praised for his undying level of enthusiasm as he celebrated his presence at the Olympics waving a Mexican flag given by a fan. Taufatofua, who finished 114 and about 3 minutes ahead, waited for him at the finish line. Winner Dario Cologna of Switzerland returned to the finish line to shake his hand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madrazo, German 1974 births Living people Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Mexican male cross-country skiers Olympic cross-country skiers for Mexico