Colorado native Sarah Schleper concluded her participation in the Beijing Olympic Games finishing in 37th place in women's alpine skiing on Monday.
The five-time Olympic champion -- four with the United States and one with Mexico -- represented the Aztec country for the second time at the Winter Olympics.
Born in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, Schleper retired in 2011 after a career that spanned 15 years with the US Ski Team. But then, remaining as competitive as ever and her life having other plans, she didn't hang up the skis entirely.
“I had retired, but I never really let it go completely,” she told the New York Times. “In my mind, I never really gave up ski racing."
In 2007, Schleper married Federico Gaxiola of Mexico, and that gave her the opportunity to get a new passport and ski for Mexico. She made her international debut for Mexico during the 2014/15 season and competed for Mexico at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
"I wanted to be Mexican because Mexico is beautiful. I love everything about my country," Schleper said of her change of nationality in her Olympic bio. "A lot of people ask me how I feel about being Mexican, [as] some Americans do not understand why I chose to be Mexican and have not had the opportunity to see how wonderful this country is. I feel tremendously happy because I love Mexico and everything it means to be Mexican."
Selected as flag bearer for Mexico, the mother of two children concluded her participation by placing 37th in the women's giant slalom event in alpine skiing.
The Colorado native has competed in nine World Championships -- five for the U.S. and four for Mexico. Her best finish was seventh in slalom at Santa Caterina in 2005. Her 27th in Alpine combined in 2017 at St. Moritz was the best ever for a Mexican woman.
Mexico will have four representatives at the Beijing Winter Olympics: Schleper, Rodolfo Dickson in alpine skiing, Jonathan Soto in cross country skiing and Donovan Carrillo in figure skating.
Mexico will have four representatives at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
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