Mexican woman wins gold in World Kickboxing Championship

“Definitely the best experience of my sporting career so far,” said the gold medalist at the WAKO World Kickboxing Championship, Italy 2021.

Valeria Bolaños Gervasi, an undergraduate student of Business Transformation and Strategy at the Santa Fe campus of Tecnológico de Monterrey, won the gold in the tournament organized by WAKO, the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations.

This is the only global organization recognized by the GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations) and the IOC (International Olympic Committee).

Valeria competed against 13 countries, with Russia taking the bronze and Ukraine the silver.

According to the gold medal winner, it took a long to prepare for this feat. 

“I’ve been training since I was 2 and competing internationally since I was 13. I’m 19 now.

“Specifically, these world championships meant two years of complicated preparation due to the pandemic, with daily training and personal trainers to help me develop in different areas,” she shared.

The goal? Winning gold at the world championship 

However, it was worth all the effort, as she achieved her goal of becoming the world championship gold medalist in her discipline, forms with weapons.

The champion said that discipline and sacrifice were the main aspects of her personal and sporting life that had helped her win the gold.

“I had to put a lot of things to one side to be able to commit to the training sessions, tournaments, and necessary preparations to get to the world championship.

“My goal in this world championship was always winning the gold. I’d won 2 world championships before in juniors, under 18s, and this was my first as an adult, so it meant a lot to me,” she said.

“My goal in this world championship was always winning the gold.” - Valeria Bolaños Gervasi

Being persistent and organized

Finally, Valeria shared that the Tec had helped her be persistent and organized.

“This helped me when balancing the personal, social, student, and sporting aspects of my life, as far as possible. I could also continue studying virtually during preparation and the world championship,” she concluded.

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