By Amlan Chakraborty
CHATEAUROUX, France (Reuters) – For four years, staff at a restaurant in the Mexican city of Saltillo had no clue that one of South America’s world-class shooters was their co-worker.
Edilio Centeno Nieves himself spilled the beans this year because he had to ask for leave to be able to compete at the Paris Olympics in the men’s 10-meter air pistol event.
“They couldn’t believe it,” the 43-year-old, who is part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) refugee team, said.
“They asked me why I hadn’t told them the story of my life and I said, ‘Well, I was just here working’,”
The IOC refugee team represents displaced people around the world and Centeno Nieves’s past was a well-kept secret at his workplace.
Centeno Nieves was Venezuela’s top-ranked shooter but left the country in 2017 citing a lot of insecurity, relocating first to El Salvador and then to Guatemala while still representing Venezuela.
After the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, he moved to Saltillo where working full-time as a waiter.
“I was serving the tables, sweeping the floors and everything,” he said. “Then I grew within the company, and today I am a manager.”
His career appeared over but the IOC’s refugee programme opened an unexpected chance for him to return to the sport he loves.
“I didn’t believe I would ever be able to return to sports,” he said.
“I had mixed feelings in the beginning because I was not going with my country’s team, but the refugee cause is a beautiful one.”
Help came from his employer in Saltillo too.
“He has given me airline tickets and sports equipment.
“He has told me not to mention his name in public; he does it because he loves that I am competing again and that he didn’t know that part of my life.”
Centeno Nieves did not make the final of his event, however, finishing 30th on Saturday, but he is not finished with the Olympics.
His sister Marialejandra is also a shooter and he hopes to compete alongside her at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“Two siblings competing in the mixed event would be something very nice,” he said.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in Chateauroux; editing by Ed Osmond)
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