The greatest sports legend in Latin America – Maria Paris (Costa Rica)
Queen of Latin American swimming!
From 1974 to the early 1980s, the most popular athlete in Central America was a woman. Her name: María del Milagro Paris, outstanding athlete from Costa Rica. It certainly put Costa Rica and Latin America on the map when it competed in the Summer Olympics (Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980) and World Championships (Cali 1974). Revered and respected by Costa Rica, one of the most stable and prosperous republics in the Western Hemisphere, it has been the inspiration of Silvia and Claudia Poll, who were the best athletes – women or men – in Latin America in the late 1980s and mid-1980s. the 80s -1990s.
1980 was one of the best years for sports in Costa Rica. Why? As one of the best swimmers in Latin America during the 1970s and early 1980s, María París of Costa Rica became the first swimmer from Central America to reach the final of an Olympic event when she qualified for the final of the Moscow Summer Olympics in 1980. After several months of hard work and preparation, she, who was the best Costa Rican performer at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, came in seventh in the women’s 100-meter butterfly.
María del Milagro Paris – Born to Swim
His career as an international athlete began at the XII Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1974, where he collected a total of three gold medals. Since then, he has not won the golds by accident. Miss Paris, accompanied by Francisco “Frank” Rivas (the National Coach of the Costa Rican Swimming Team), had worked very hard in the last three years. Like Silvia and Claudia Poll Arehns, she had trained at the Cariari Club, one of the most famous swimming clubs in Costa Rica.
After being selected to compete for the Costa Rica Olympic Team in 1974, Paris led a national delegation to the FINA World Championships in Cali, Colombia. In that event, she finished fifth in the women’s 100 meter butterfly. Aside from international titles, he also broke several national and regional records between 1974 and 1982.
After María’s participation in the 1980 Olympic Games, she had competed in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Havana (Cuba). At these Games, she won two women’s gold medals in swimming (100m butterfly and 200m medley). In addition, he collected a bronze in the 200 m butterfly.
After her retirement as an athlete in 1984, the Olympic year, she was succeeded by Silvia Poll, an outstanding swimmer between 1986 and 1992. In addition to her unique discipline, María París will be remembered as the first swimmer in Latin America to reach the finals of a World Championship. . Certainly, he is a remarkable example for various Olympians.