María del Pilar Roldán Tapia (born 18 November 1939 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

) is a Mexican former

foil fencer A foil is one of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. It is a flexible sword of total length or under, rectangular in cross section, weighing under , with a blunt tip. As with the épée, points are only scored by making contact with ...

and the first

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

woman to win an

olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

in the history of

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

. During the 1968 Mexican Olympic Games she was a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

ist; she was a champion in singles. She competed for

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

held in

, where she won the silver medal in the women's foil event.

Family

Her parents were Ángel Roldán ("El Güero"), one of the best

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

players in the national field, selected for the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual ...

(1934), and María Tapia ("La Chata"), a triple medalist in the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for 32 countries and ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

(1935).

Early life

Pilar Roldán was born in

. At a young age Pilar began playing

, but her passion for

was born, thanks to the work of Alejandro Dumas "the three musketeers". At first, she only played with a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

to pretend to be a

musketeer A musketeer ( ) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare, particularly in Europe, as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a precursor to the rifl ...

, but for her third birthday (1952), Pilar asked her parents for fencing lessons. At the end of that year, the world renowned

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Professor Eduardo Alajmo decided to move to

, and Pilar was one of his first graduates. Recognizing the passion of his daughter, he decided to install a small fencing court in their house and buy her high quality protective masks, gloves, and a vest. And so that without realizing, the so-called "white sport" ceased to be the main focus of this tennis family. At 15 years of old, Pilar was the undefeated national champion in foil fencing. On March 12, 1955, in

, father and daughter (Ángel Roldán and Pilar Roldán) participated in fencing en the second

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

. This was an unprecedented feat, and since that day, no one father and daughter pair has ever competed for their country at the Pan-American Games. Neither won a

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

, but Pilar had some victories in singles. She was defeated by the

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

, Igrid Sanders, finishing in fourth place after defeating Maxime Mitchel.

References

1939 births Living people Olympic silver medalists for Mexico Fencers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for Mexico Mexican female foil fencers Fencers from Mexico City Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists in fencing Pan American Games gold medalists for Mexico Fencers at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games 20th-century Mexican sportswomen {{Mexico-fencing-bio-stub