Felipe Munoz Kapamaz, I was Olympic champion,
in the 200m Breaststroke in Mexico 1968.
I was feeling really fortunate that the Olympic Games,
were going to be held in Mexico
and I was 17 at the time.
The day of my final there were around 10,000 spectators in the pool,
it was completely full.
But the reason I was more motivated was that the Games,
were being held in Mexico city where I was born
Even more than that, the Olympic pool was built just 10 streets away from where I used to live.
The Olympic Games where not only in my country, in my city, they were being held in my neighbourhood.
I remember it really well,
my Mum was sitting on the second row there in the middle.
My Dad was sitting slightly higher, he was with some friends,
while my Mum was with my siblings and cousins.
At 7:54 I was sitting here on a chair,
I was getting ready, taking my clothes off.
And I was looking at the other side of the pool,
trying to focus on what my coach had told me.
My coach had explained that in lane 3,
was World Champion Vladimir Kosinski
and that I had to be really careful with him, because he was very quick.
The first 100m I had to be patient,
and not to try to win the race from the beginning.
I had to let the Soviet swimmer go,
but at the same time had to keep within one body length of him,
I remember that he got away from me at the beginning
By the 150 metre mark I had to draw level with him,
and try to touch at the same time as him.
When I finally caught him, I realised that I couldn't see him anymore,
I couldn't see him in front of me. But I could hear him,
I could hear the bubbles from him and from the American swimmer.
and I could hear a lot of noise here in the pool. Because of that I knew I must have finished in a good position.
I had to touch the wall before anyone else, I remembered that I touched the wall and heard a lot of noise
That's when I turned around and I saw the scoreboard with my name and the number 1 next to it.
Afterwards I got my medal, I remember that the girls
handing out the medals, were really good looking, I kissed all of them,
I was so happy because I was only a 17 year old and probably by then I had only kissed a girl once or twice!
At the time I was kissing all of them and I was so happy.
My team mates and the judges lifted me up in their arms and we did an Olympic lap around the pool.
But maybe the most emotional moment for me,
was when I heard my national anthem.
I tried to sing but I felt a knot in my throat and I wasn't able too. Even now I still feel the same way.
Many years have passed since that moment,
but for me that moment was so intense,
it was an emotion that I was waiting a long time for,
an emotion that was so strong
that I still remember like it was last week. I can remember everything.
It may sound like a lie, but its not just me.
Any athlete that has lived and experienced,
something like this will remember it for the rest of their lives.