Paris 2024: Prisca Awiti, athlete with Kenyan heritage, wins Mexico’s first Olympic judo medal

Prisca Guadalupe Awiti Alcaraz, born in London in 1996 to a Kenyan father (Xavier) and a Mexican mother (Maria Dolores), made history on Tuesday at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games by winning Mexico’s first-ever medal in judo at the world’s premier international sporting event.

Awiti won silver in the women’s -63 kg weight class after losing to Slovenia’s Andreja Leski. Despite the disappointment, Awiti basked in the glory of her historic achievement, marking a remarkable milestone in her pursuit of excellence in judo at the highest level.

Paris 2024 was Awiti’s second appearance at the Olympic Games, having represented Mexico at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games after she switched allegiance in 2017 from the United Kingdom to the North American nation. She had previously represented the UK in the sport since the age of 12.

Awiti’s change of national allegiance followed the advice of her coach, who suggested the idea after Awiti expressed frustration at her lack of success while attempting to represent Great Britain internationally. That stagnation in her international career almost made her quit the sport.

“My weight category was quite competitive in Great Britain because there were four other girls fighting for a place. I was on the verge of giving up until my coach suggested I get a Mexican passport. I contacted the head coach of Mexico and in three months, the change was finalized,” Awiti told judoinside.com in 2020.

However, her change of allegiance came with unforeseen challenges, such as language barriers and forging a sense of belonging with her new compatriots.

“The language barrier was extremely difficult to overcome. My Spanish was not the best, and the Mexicans were not sure about a girl coming over and starting to fight for their country. The language barrier made coaching frustrating at first. However, the Mexicans were nice to me as I adjusted while living and training in Mexico for seven months in 2019,” Awiti, a Sports Studies graduate from the University of Bath, said in an interview with Judo Inside in 2020.

Her first appearance at the Olympic Games with Mexico in Tokyo 2020 was not the best either, as she was eliminated in her first contest following a loss to Gankhaich Bold of Mongolia.

That early defeat in Tokyo did not hold her back, though. In the years that followed, she bounced back, winning consecutive bronze medals at the International Judo Federation Grand Prix held in 2022 (Perth, Australia), 2023 (Linz, Austria), and 2023 (Zagreb, Croatia). These successes added to her silver medal in the 2023 IJF Grand Slam in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, a silver medal in the 2023 Pan American Championship held in Calgary, Canada, and a bronze medal in the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile.

Awiti comes from a family that lives and breathes judo. Her brothers – Philip (31), Joshua (27), Samy (23), and Michea (16) – also play the sport and all have won medals in junior competitions at various British championships.

It was her brother Philip who challenged Awiti to take up judo following an argument they had when she was eight years old. Her brother had quit gymnastics to focus on judo, and his decision, as Awiti told judoinside.com in 2020, did not impress her. They argued about which sport was harder.

To prove a point, Awiti took up judo while continuing to practice gymnastics, a sport she had trained in since she was three years old and competed in nationally at the age of 12.

“We had an argument about which sport between gymnastics and judo was harder and since I had never done judo, I started to practice it once a week while doing gymnastics three times a week. At some point, after some tests were done, I was told I was too tall for gymnastics, so I started doing judo fully. Judo was my back-up, not my first choice,” she told judoinside.com in the 2020 interview.

Awiti’s success at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has captured the attention of a few keen Kenyans who must be wondering how she evaded representing her fatherland.

When the Eastleigh Voice reached Duncan Chemiryo, the Team Manager for Team Kenya Judo at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, for comment on Awiti’s previous eligibility status to compete for Kenya, the Judo Kenya official admitted to only hearing of and meeting Prisca Awiti for the first time in Paris.

“Awiti had never been approached by Judo Kenya with an interest of having her compete for Kenya. Per local sports regulations, despite her having a Kenyan father, she is not Kenyan because she is already a dual citizen of the UK and Mexico. So, at this instant, it will be a long stretch to have her compete for Kenya,” Chemiryo said.

Chemiryo also confirmed having met with Awiti in Paris and from their conversation, it is evident that the two parties are keen on establishing a long-term relationship aimed at improving judo in Kenya.

“We have extended an invite to Awiti to visit Kenya for the first time in October this year,” Chemiryo said.

Awiti met with Chemiryo and three other Team Kenya officials – Wanjiru Karani (Team Kenya CEO), Shoaib Vayani (Team Kenya Head of Logistics), and David Walubengo (Team Kenya Judo coach).

While Mexico celebrates Awiti’s silver medal, their second medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Kenya will be hoping that its sole representative in judo, Zeddy Cherotich, will go all the way and bag a maiden medal in the sport for Kenya as well.

Cherotich, a 34-year-old KDF Sergeant, will be competing in her first contest on Thursday as she makes her Olympic debut in the women’s 78 kg weight class.

Cherotich will be fighting from Pool B, and her first contest is against 25-year-old Portuguese judoka, Patricia Sampaio.