Hockey Player Earns First Medal for Mexico at the Youth Winter Olympics

Mexican hockey player Luisa Wilson just made history for being the first Mexican to bag a gold in the Youth Winter Olympics in Switzerland that began on January 9, according to an aritcle by Mitu.

Wilson was part of the Mixed-Nation Yellow Team who competed in the final over the Black Team 6-1 in a 3-on-3 Ice Hockey match. Luisa Wilson led her team to victory by playing great defense as the team's Goalkeeper.

According to Winter Youth Olympics 2020 official Twitter account, 79 countries has sent total of 1783 qualified athletes to participate in youth Olympic games 2020.

At the Youth Winter Olympics, young athletes from across the globe battle each other for medals. But others, however, have been united on the field of play in unique "mixed-nation" competitions, including Wilson's team.

Her team features athletes from 13 nations including Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and Austria.

 "Having a gold medal around my neck is an incredible sensation and great for Mexico, but it's a victory for a team from many nations and I love that," said Wilson shortly after she bags the gold medal.

Although the team featured players from different nations, Mexico can proudly claim its historic first gold medal at the Winter Youth Olympics through Wilson.

Despite the team's loss on two of its preliminary games, Wilson and her teammates still made it to the finals.

 "We had lost two games before, but we made it to the semifinals because we had a lot of points and in the semis, we tried our best and made it to the finals," she said. Wilson, who lives in Canada, says she chose the sport because her father also played it and she learned to love and play ice hockey from a young age, as well.

Carlos Pruneda, the head of the Mexican delegation, said the Mexican Olympic Committee is very elated with the country's historical winning of its first Winter Olympics gold medal.

 "We're very happy that Luisa Wilson won the gold medal with the Yellow Team, while Ximena González, with the Brown Team, ended up in fourth place," he said.

Pruneda also noted that although the youth competition comes in a different format from the official Winter Games and the Olympic anthem was played at the awards ceremony, it was still an historic achievement for the country.

This is the third time Mexico has participated in the Youth Olympics. The first time was at Innsbruck, Austria in 2012, where Jose Montiel represented the country. In the following season, Joselyn McGillivary represented the country in Lillehammer Norway. This year's Mexican delegation includes Ximena Gonzalez, Alexander Daniel Valencia, Diego Rodriguez, Alejandro Fermin and Melanie Hernandez.

The Youth Olympic games may be nearing an end but Switzerland continues to provide an engaging and exciting experience for the young athlete delegates from across the world. The Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games will conclude on January 22. Mexico has taken part in all three Youth Winter Olympics, which began in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2012.