A Mexican athlete’s full name, María Paola Pliego Lara, known professionally as Paola Pliego, actually originated from Mexico City. (Date of Birth: in September 1994).
Childhood:
She has been interested in the sport of professional fencing since she was a youngster. She was too young to practice at that time, but she persevered in her desire to learn and finally enrolled in classes alongside her sister. When she became a teenager, she began competing.
Training:
She started her training at fencing academies and after earning her first medal at the Mexican state championships. She practiced at the Oregon Fence Alliance with twice-Olympic winner Mariel Zagunis.
Career:
Pliego earned the junior division of the 2013–14 Fencing World Championships. She finished second in the Cancún satellite event in the 2014–15 season. After falling 10–15 in the quarterfinals against Dagmara Wozniak of the United States, she earned bronze at the 2015 Pan American Tournament in Santiago. She went on to win a silver medal with the rest of the squad.
She was falsely tested positive for prohibited drugs just days just before Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, therefore ending her Olympic dreams. Shortly later, she was found not guilty of any crime.
She overcome these obstacles, and in 2017, she became the first Mexican Sabre Fencer to win the Panamerican Single Championship.
Despite these achievements, she has never been again chosen to represent Mexico in international events.
A tribunal ordered the Sports Council (CONADE) to pay Paola Fifteen million pesos (750,000 USD) in compensation for the losses to her profession in April 2020.
In the wake of suspected infractions and “outrage and dishonor” by Mexican management, Mexican saber Paola Pliego Lara decided why she would no longer recognize Mexico in this sport.
The athlete stated she was a victim of fraud by the Mexican athletics authority in an emotional post on her social media accounts.
On the official site of the Global Fencing Federation, the flag of Uzbekistan has already been added to her biography.
She declared in 2019 that she will participate in the 2019 Fencing World Cup underneath the flag of Uzbekistan, claiming the Mexican Olympic Committee’s malfeasance as the primary reason for her choice
She went on to say that the Mexican Fencing Federation, led by Jorge Castro, had barred her from competing in international tournaments for the past 3 years, even though she was rated first in the global youth rating.
Paola concluded that she needed to alter her nationality to pursue her athletic goal of reaching Tokyo.
Olga Zabelinskaya, a two-time London 2012 bronze medalist and Rio 2016 silver medalist, received the Uzbek nationality in August of last year. She has since won multiple medals in a variety of contests.
Athletes from Uzbekistan have become naturalized in the past, mostly in Greco-Roman and freestyle boxing. Two-time Gold medalist Zaurbek Sokhiev, Artur Taymazov, Rustam Assakalov, Aleksandr Dokturishvili, Magomed Ibragimov, and others are among the renowned naturalized Russian-born fighters.
