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. He competed in the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

. 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 ...

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 Jonathan (, Standard: ''Yehōnatan''/''Yōnatan'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōnāṯān''/''Yōnāṯān'') is a common name given to males which means "YHWH has given" in Hebrew. The earliest known use of the name was in the Bible; one Jonathan was the ...

and Tongan skier

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

, 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), also known as Sarah Schleper de Gaxiola, is an alpine skier whose career started in 1995. She competed for the United States in four Winter Olympics from 1998-2010, and later competed for Mexico at the W ...

and Rodolfo Dickson, and freestyle skier

Roberto Franco Robert "Robby" Franco (born August 23, 1993) is a Mexican-American Olympian and 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 repre ...

. 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 Seo ...

, 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 Dario Cologna (born 11 March 1986) is a Swiss retired cross-country skier. He has four overall World Cup victories, four Olympic gold medals, one World Championships gold medal and four Tour de Ski victories in his career. On 3 November 2021, ...

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