Latin flavor lights up the ice

The 22-year-old is originally from Guadalajara but moved with his coach to Leon when he was 13 because his hometown rink shut down. He dreamed of Olympic glory and idolized Spain's Javier Fernandez, who took bronze at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang to become the first Spanish figure skater to medal.

Brenda Elsey, a sports history professor at Hofstra University, said win or lose, Carrillo's debut at the Olympics can only be a good thing for Mexico and the rest of Latin America in terms of winter sports engagement. Mexico does not have a national professional sports league or competitive collegiate system for any winter sports. The Winter Games are also not a geopolitical priority for its government.

"The fact is they would have to go on the European circuit to be able to qualify. The process to get to the Olympics is more of a challenge than people realize, particularly because there's not a huge culture necessarily within Latin America that is clamoring for this," Elsey said.

Even at the popular ski resorts in Chile and Argentina, Elsey said the mountain snow sports are so cost-prohibitive that it's effectively reserved for Western tourists and locals with European roots who are already familiar with skiing.

The lack of a Latin American presence at the Winter Games is surely an issue the International Olympic Committee has taken note of. Elsey said winter sports themselves are rooted in Nordic traditions, which is also why Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia are not well-represented.

Agencies via Xinhua