By Raul Garcia Salguero

AIPS Executive Committee member

The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa in his Third Report of Government emphasized Physical Culture and Sport and its importance to the National Strategy in two areas: physical activity for all the Mexicans and high performance sport.

In the message that he sent to the nation, the president highlighted that in 2009, the diver Paola Espinosa claimed the world champion title in Individual 10m Platform; the walker Éder Sanchez won a bronze medal at the FISU World University Games in Serbia where Mexico achieved 13th place in the medal tally  with three gold, five silvers and five bronzes.  

The president recalled that in 2008 an investment of 513.2 millions of pesos towards sport infrastructure was programmed: 164.2 for the National Olympiad; 80 mdp for the Pan-American Games of Guadalajara 2011; and 269 mdp destined tfor municipal infrastructure.   The increase in 2009 grew to thousand 799.3 mdp , 234.5 %: 640.4 mdp in municipal infrastructure; 700 mdp for the Pan-American Games of Guadalajara 2011; 300 mdp for the Paralympics National Center; 100 mdp for the Central American Games and of Caribbean Veracruz 2014; and 58.8 mdp for the Program of Sports State Infrastructure .

President Calderon said it is a priority that the whole population realizes a physical activity of a regular and systematic way for what he stimulates programs in students from all levels reaching 6. 9 million pupils besides whom they have motivated to putting active on more than 30 thousand public servants and 120 of the private initiative.

During 2008 2009 4 million primary school children from 25 thousand public and private school participated in regular sporting activitiy including athletics, chess, minibasketball, minihandball, minivolleyball and football.

The president added that an investment of 65.7 million pesos was made to 630 organisations for conventional disciplines and to 50 groups for adapted sports.