Family and friends of weightlifter SorayaJimenez held a private ceremony Friday to say their last goodbyes to the firstMexican woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
Jimenez's loved ones walked by a casket with her body at afuneral home in Mexico state where her remains were cremated. She died Thursdayof a heart attack at age 35.
"I, like the rest of the Olympic family, believe thatSoraya will live in our minds and our hearts forever," said Carlos PadillaBecerra, president of the Mexican Olympic Committee.
Jimenez won the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics inSydney, Australia in an achievement that was unexpected and surprising.
She was a gold medalist in the Central American Games inMaracaibo in 1998 and a silver medalist at the 1999 Pan-American Games inWinnipeg, but prior to the games she was ranked number eight worldwide and wasnot considered a gold medal candidate.
With her performance at the 2000 Summer Olympics, she becamea legend in Mexico but soon after began having health problems, includingweight gain, several knee surgeries and a battle with influenza that led to theloss of one of her lungs.
After retiring from weightlifting in 2004, Jimenez became asportscaster for the Televisa television network.
Before her gold medal win, fencer Pilar Roldan and swimmerMarieta Ramirez had won silver and bronze Olympic medals respectively.
Maria Espinoza is the only other Mexican female athlete towin an Olympic gold medal. She won it in Beijing in 2008.