Luis Flores: “In Paralympic sports we must show what we are: High Performance Athletes”

He is the first table tennis player to qualify to a Paralympic Games through the World Ranking system and it is his first time in the Paralympic Games. Let’s get to know his training, his impressions for the new constitution and his recommendations to visit our country

Tokyo will be your first Paralympic Experience. What do you think will change after them?

Tokyo will be my most important experience after Lima 2019 and I think it will change many aspects for me, or what comes ahead. Seek better objectives in competitions, better positions in the world ranking and improve a lot. My technical team and I will learn a lot more than we know today.

How is your preparation for Tokyo 2020 going?

We are training less hours due to the pandemic, but each training we’re correcting very specific things and there has been a difference.

How do you feel with a team that combines experience and young replacements?

We have a good group. We have the experience of the people that have been in this a long time, the strength in trainings of the younger people and that combination is really good. The union has been great, as well as the ambience and it makes us enjoy each training.

What is the biggest challenge being in the next Paralympic Games?

It is a huge challenge. I want to compete, not participate, that is my goal and I am training for that. With the entire technical team, we are focused in something big, we want to surprise everyone considering I’m the person with the least experience. We want to prove that all our training throughout all these years has paid off.

What place should Paralympic sport have in the New Constitution?

I think that the Paralympic sport should be shown as we are: high performance athletes, and not as a recreational sport, as it was seen before. We are giving the professionalism that was needed through our trainings, our trips, winning competitions abroad, as it is happening with several sports. I think that this should definitely change: We need more support, more resources.


 

His recommendations:

Typical Chilean dish: Humitas-pastel de choclo (Corn mash/cake – Corn pie)

Location to visit in Santiago: Bicentennial Park

Location to eat: the classic “picadas” (hot spots) where our typical dishes are served

Location to go shopping: Costanera Cente

More news