Twist of fate leads to UCLA

Twist of fate leads to UCLA

Portocarrero surpasses struggles to compete for UCLA
gymnastics

By Esther Hui

Daily Bruin Staff

After spending 16 years of her life battling to stay in
gymnastics, Louisa Portocarrero knows what it means to
struggle.

Born in Nicaragua, Portocarrero was raised in Guatemala, a small
Central American country where, at the moment, a military regime is
in power and a civil war constantly rages. Gymnastics, which isn’t
really a popular sport in Guatemala anyway, gets low priority
against the back drop of a civil war.

Portocarrero explains simply that, "Everything is more
complicated in Guatemala."

Which is the type of positive response one begins to expect from
her. There is something very delightful about Portocarrero, who, at
just over 5 feet tall, is tiny even for a gymnast.

"She has a spirit about her that is so endearing," UCLA head
coach Valorie Kondos said. "She’s like a little kid who’s able to
laugh at the drop of a hat."

It is her delightful demeanor that makes Portocarrero’s history
stand out in such a stark contrast.

Her first few years in gymnastics were plagued by a constant
absence of equipment and coaches. When Portocarrero was 12, she and
her family moved to Ontario, Canada, where she trained and attended
high school with current Bruin teammate Leah Homma.

Because the Guatemalan government wouldn’t finance her
gymnastics, Portocarrero’s mother, who is a dancer, and her father,
who is a furniture designer, payed for everything, the club costs
and the international travel.

"It’s pretty scary in Guatemala," Homma said. "When Louisa first
came (to Canada) she would tell us about the warfare and police.
The government controls everything there, and here that’s unheard
of.

"But Louisa has a unique personality. She’s easy to get along
with, always up and positive, and she gets joy out of the simplest
things."

While in Canada, Portocarrero began to find international
success, placing 7th in the all-around in the 1991 Pan American
Games, though because she couldn’t compete with the Canadian team,
everything was an individual accomplishment. At age 14, with the
Olympics approaching, Portocarrero decided to become a Canadian
citizen.

The Guatemalan government offered to pay for her training and
travel costs if she would compete for Guatemala. Portocarrero
returned to Guatemala, and became the second gymnast in Guatemalan
history to compete in the Olympics, where she placed 18th in the
all-around – without the benefit of a team.

The Olympics remain one of Portocarrero’s best memories, and
last year she had the Olympic emblem tattooed onto the lower part
of her right leg.

Afterward, the Guatemalan government brought in Rumanian
coaches, who Portocarrero did not want to train with. She was told
she would have to pay at the gym which her parents had founded in
Guatemala, and so Portocarrero, at the height of frustration, had
to leave.

Portocarrero was unable to train consistently until a few weeks
ago, when she was finally cleared as a Bruin athlete – a huge trial
in its own right. The ordeal earned her the designation as the most
difficult athlete ever cleared for competition at UCLA.

Without knowing where she was going to train next, how did
Portocarrero continue to reach her goals?

"It’s a hard question," Portocarrero said. "I’ve done it all my
life, it’s something natural. In Guatemala we don’t get the support
we need. But there was never a doubt in my mind for one second that
I would get to where I wanted to get. Not having the support wasn’t
an obstacle. I’ve fought for a lot, and all of that has taught me
so many things."

"I told her she really was meant to be here," Kondos said. "I
had this fervent intensity to get her here, I knew it was
important. And I’ve never worked so hard to get an athlete
here."

Gymnastics is the one thing which has remained constant in
Portocarrero’s life for the last 16 years, which probably has given
her more determination.

"Louisa understands how to take all of the anxiety and focus to
work for her and not against her," Kondos said. "She’s had a
horrible first week here. And to go through all of that turmoil,
six months of trying to get her cleared. After she finished (her
routine at the UCLA invite) Lorita (Granger, athletic trainer) came
up to me and said, ‘Well coach, was it worth it?’, and I said,
‘Yes.’"

Portocarrero has only competed beam for the Bruins this year,
but it is an amazing routine which highlights her impressive back
flexibility. She mounts by facing the beam, pressing up to a
handstand, and then bending backward to put one foot on the beam in
an inverted frontwalkover.

Later in the routine, she grabs her left foot from behind,
brings it up and straightens it while holding a scale, and leans
her head back against her calf. She also has another flexibility
move on the beam which is named after her.

"For Louisa, who hasn’t competed in one-and-a-half years, to hit
with such clarity, is really a tribute to her ability to focus and
not let outside influences bother her," Kondos said. "I can’t
imagine someone on our team who could do that, and not just stay on
the beam, but really hit. And she said it was so much fun."

Said Portocarrero: "What I’m doing now is for me. I enjoy the
sport, I enjoy the team. I just go out there and do my best, and I
take it one day at a time. That’s all there is to it, I think – I
don’t just think. I know."

ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin

A twisting and turning career finally led Louisa Portocarrero to
the UCLA gymnastics team.

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