The gymnast Jossimar Calvo once wanted to be a soccer player
One of the unknown stories of Jossimar Calvo is that as a child he dreamed of kicking balls, far from what he does today: climbing parallel bars
When he was just a child and grew up in the streets of Cúcuta, Jossimar Calvo, he dreamed of playing football. That was what he wanted, without ignoring that his talent would be far from a court of 120 by 45 meters. The unusual story was recalled by Calvo himself in a profile by El Tiempo. There he mentions that when he was five he got carried away by the fever of the ball and a particular idol: Ronaldo, the Brazilian who won two World Cups.
Leer en español: Jossimar Calvo se dejó tentar por el fútbol, pero fue la gimnasia quien lo sedujo
El Tiempo also mentions that Calvo reached to play in an amateur team of the capital of Norte de Santander, but following the recommendation of a teacher of an art gymnastics school, he let himself be carried away by gymnastics."I was very small. I wanted to be a footballer, but like when you're a kid and you do not understand, my parents paid attention to the recommendation of a teacher from the sports unit and that's how I started," Jossimar told the same media.
Another curious fact about the beginnings of Jossimar Calvo has to do with his admiration for the acclaimed European and Hollywood actor Jean Claude van Damme. Once football was ruled out, Calvo got involved with gymnastics and one of his first wishes was to resemble Van Damme, to the point of having his own movements and flexibility to kick or jump, recalls El Espectador. Add the same means that at that time was key to the arrival of Jairo Ruiz, a man who discovered the great ability of the cucuteño to move on the parallel bars, which would later give him the glory nationally and globally.
In this delicacy of curiosities around Calvo you cannot leave aside the harsh childhood he lived: in an interview for Señal Colombia, he recalled that his house, in the Belisario neighborhood of Cúcuta, was always in black construction. Where the room, kitchen and bathroom were half finished, and the tin tiles allowed the water filter when it rained too much.
Also to the Colombian national media, Jossimar told that his warm-ups before facing a football match were very peculiar and combined the two sports that marked him for life. "At the beginning, you had to jog and stretch. Then in those warm-ups, I used to do those gym routines. I opened my legs, I stopped hands, I made half moons and things like that. Everyone was watching me," he said.
His main inspiration
All those unforgettable, happy and sad moments served to make Calvo little by little in becoming a great athlete. Although this would not have been enough without the accompaniment and constant motivation of his mother, Nohora Moreno. She was at his side since he decided to enroll in a gymnastics training school until he competed for the first time in an Olympic Games
However, recently she died due to an open-heart surgery that she could not stand, and despite the devastating news, the Cucuta wanted to compete in the Central American and Caribbean Games. After obtaining three gold medals he told El Espectador: "My mom died watching me succeed". "She was a woman with good values and thank God she saw me grow up and she gave me a good education," Calvo said.
No wonder, the death of her mother was only days before her participation in the Central Americans began. In this regard, he confessed to El Heraldo that "I hesitated to come" since he did not feel emotionally strong. However, the responsibility to an entire country and especially professionalism prevailed.
Calvo left the Caribbean games with three medals of gold, two of silver and one of bronze; also served to dedicate this sports victory to his mother: "In heaven, she must be very proud," said the cucuteño to FM.
LatinAmerican Post | Yeinson Fajardo Bohórquez
Copy edited by Laura Viviana Guevara Muñoz
