Panamanian Karla Navas and her trip to Paris in 2024

dreams about Karla Navas they are fulfilled one after the other and are part of a long journey towards paris 2024, the track that the 18-year-old Panamanian gymnast crosses with a leap and a smile that never seems to disappear, even in difficult times.

Dressed in a black uniform with blue patches, the young athlete wildly and with tears celebrated the gold she won in the individual discipline of sports gymnastics at Games of Central America and the Caribbeanplayed in the Sports Center in City of Merliot.

There he hugged his compatriot Hillary Heron, who won bronze at the competition and is her partner, confidant and person with whom she grew up in the world of gymnastics from a young age.

“What I felt at that moment was (the need) to hug my partner, hug my coaches. We fell to the ground and started crying for joy, we really don’t believe, today we don’t believe that we won a medal for Panama, gold and bronze,” he says Navas without hiding the joy that overwhelms her.

And it is about the fact that his career went uphill since last year he hung the gold medal in the jumping test in Pan American Gymnastics Championshipsia, he played in Rio de Janeiro and that put him on the regional radar.

“Since then we have pan american, if I had a gold medal, a very long training process. I had injuries, I had falls, but that didn’t stop me from moving forward, training harder, because I reached the goal of the Central American Games to seek a gold medal”, he says and confirms that the path to success is never easy.

Sports family

His mother was a gymnast and his grandfather Guillermo Boyd represented Panama in weightlifting at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, an inspiration that followed her throughout her career and helped her grow.’

50,500

points that Karla Navas won for gold.

49,450

it was Heron’s score that won bronze.

“My grandfather Guillermo, in weightlifting, went to Olympiad in Mexico and his story helped me a lot, it motivated me every day to be better and to follow the path of my family and its history”, he says.

This is in addition to the process she had with her friend Heron, since the goal of both has always been to go hand in hand, grow together and not give up on the long road they are taking to fulfill their dreams.

“We grew up from a young age, we supported each other from a young age. And I told her, if it’s not one, we are both, we have to both get on the podium, whatever, but we will have to both get on the podium. And know that we are Two were on the podium and we have a medal, that makes us very happy,” he explains.

And that is that when asked what her partner is for her, On you answer: “Hillary It means my sister, my better half, my everything, my world (…) I love her too much, and she also worked hard for this”.

resilience and resilience

IN San Salvador, Navas She has already won gold, but she is looking for more gold medals, especially on the parallel bars, where she arrives as a big favorite.

“I have a barbell machine, it’s my machine, I just have to do my routine, do it cleanly and see what I get,” he explains.

However, he is aware that it will not be easy for him because the competition he faced “was tough”.

“Here it was more about resistance, resilience, enduring until the end and positive thinking. I am very happy to have this gold medal and I give it to Panama, most importantly, to my country that has supported me since I was little and today I just thank them “, he says.

For this reason, he says, “the dream is getting closer.”

“First we are going to the World Championships (gymnastics in Antwerp), for which I qualified with my teammates. We are going first with that goal, little by little, step by step, we are going to Pan American Gameswe will look for it Olympic games, that I know we will make it happen,” he concludes.