The Invention of The Hero, Science and Triathlon

In Mexico we have invented heroes the whole time.  Unfortunately, they are “heroes made of paper.” We called them “héroes de papel” in Spanish.  How we go about this process?

In science there is a process to choose the random sample when doing research. A random sample is necessary for a "valid" research that can be apply to the population studied. If we have a limited population we have to know exactly what kind of sample we have in order to apply the results.  In the case of Mexico, the research done by the FMTRI does not have a random sample.  The research sample is in the National Institute for High Performance that has a budget 100 times bigger than our group and has the biggest press exposure (meaning people involved in triathlon in Mexico).  This situation creates “héroes de papel” in Mexico.  What these young athletes live is so artificial that it is impossible to reproduce performance some other place; or it takes too long if it is going to happen to become a “real Hero.”  The athlete takes another road to accomplish something, for example, Manny Huerta did exactly this to obtain his spot for the London Olympics looking for the best place for him to train. 

The research protocol done by the FMTRI is telling us statistically that what they do it is not working.  The first four junior finishers are not members of the Mexican High Performance Center in the Mexican National Championships that happened yesterday.  Eduardo won the race for 20 seconds in the sprint triathlon.  Are this result and multiple others going to change the policy adopted by the FMTRI? I doubt it.  We need to be able legally to start teaching our “privileged culture” in order to create real heroes and not “héroes de papel.”  In football we say that footballer are “inflados” (inflated) by TV and become “héroes de papel.” In triathlon it is the same thing but the triathletes are “inflados” by this “privileged culture.”

I have not been at Nou Camp but I have heard that it is a “temple” for footballers where noise is limited and there are not alcoholic beverages permitted.  Everybody is going to see performance and the rules to enjoy the performance are according to objectives.  Victor Plata told us that the High Performance places in the USA, like Colorado Springs, are for people to train alone but with the capacity to apply for guidance.  In Mexico, it is too expensive to support the National Institute and the “privileged culture” that live from it.  The budget should be distributed according to performance in a “real competitive environment.”