Nov 01, 2021

M8 of November - Marco Vasquez

Sydney gained an inspirational and hard working young man via his native Peru and the USA, where his family now lives. At 17, professional Athlete Marco Vasquez set out on a holiday to Australia and after falling in love with the Harbour city, he put down roots and called it home.

His love for architecture and construction has seen him diversify his talents and he shares his passions of sports with his career in design and building. As well as aspirations to be a Construction Project Manager, Marco also sees himself as a little Athletics coach, sharing all he has learnt over the years with the young hopefuls.

He credits all the discipline and resilience required as an athlete to helping him overcome his fears and to work hard for his dreams and goals.

And we don’t need any convincing. To achieve so much at such a young age, we are Team Marco all the way!!

NAME: Marco Vasquez

AGE: 28

CURRENT POSITION: Senior Project Designer for a design and construction company

WHERE IS YOUR HOME TEAM: Chiclayo, Peru

WHO DO YOU PLAY FOR NOW: Sydney, AU

WHAT’S YOUR GAME PLAN: My long-term goal is to become a construction project manager, and next year I am trying out for the Australian bobsleigh team after they come back from the Winter Olympics.

WHAT’S YOUR STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE IT: I am currently working in a company that will allow me to transition to that role, and the training process includes all aspects of construction, Which I am very passionate about. Regarding my sports career goals, at the moment I have 2 coaches (sprint and strength and conditioning) working with me to achieve the standards required to become part of the national team.

LIST 1 OR 2 ‘GOLD MEDAL’ MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE: One of my proudest moments was making it to the national athletics team at 16. I had started athletics at 13, and competing internationally for the first time, meeting people from different countries and making new friends was an amazing experience that I will cherish forever.

Finishing my degree was another. I still remember the late nights and weekends trying to finish up assignments while working 2 jobs to pay for my studies. My mom was also going through cancer so it was a tough time but thankfully my mom recovered and was able to see me graduate.

WHO ARE YOUR CHAMPIONS: I’ve had 7 or 8 coaches throughout my entire athletics career, and each of them has taught me something different that made me the person that I am.

One of them in particular, Aldo, once told me after he realised I was always too nervous to compete that I should not fear failure, but rather fear not trying. That day I won my very first gold medal. I was overwhelmed with joy and ever since then, every time I compete I think of it as an opportunity to improve myself rather than what could go wrong.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT MAKES AN EVERYDAY CHAMPION: Someone that no matter how hard obstacles can be, would always push hard enough to achieve their goals.

WHAT’S YOUR MOTTO:

Everyone has to face challenges and hurdles. It's what you do with those that determine how successful you're going to be.