Fernando Valles

Fernando Valles
Full nameFernando Valles Montañez
Born(1944-10-09)9 October 1944
Mexico City, Mexico
Died31 May 2010(2010-05-31) (aged 65)
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
RelativesArmando Valles (brother)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented

Fernando Valles Montañez was a Mexican artistic gymnast who represented Mexico in international competition during the 1960s and 1970s. He competed at the 1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Dortmund, won a bronze medal with the Mexican team at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, represented Mexico at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and was a member of the Mexican team that won the silver medal at the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama City. He was the younger brother of fellow Mexican Olympic gymnast Armando Valles.

Gymnastics career

1966 World Championships

Valles represented Mexico at the 1966 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Dortmund, West Germany. He was listed 142nd in the published men's all-around results with a total of 37.750 points.

1967 season

Valles competed in the pre-Olympic gymnastics competition held in Mexico City in 1967 as part of preparations for the 1968 Summer Olympics. In a 2008 interview, he recalled that he had accumulated only two years of gymnastics preparation by the time of the competition.

In the same interview, Valles recalled suffering a serious shoulder injury during one of his first international competitions in Canada. He said that he dislocated his shoulder while performing on the rings, subsequently underwent surgery, and continued competing despite not feeling fully recovered.

At the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Valles was a member of the Mexican men's team that won the bronze medal in the team competition. The Mexican team consisted of Armando Valles, Armando García, Fernando Valles, Rogelio Mendoza, Enrique García and Enrique Salazar.

Valles later identified vault, pommel horse and parallel bars as the apparatuses in which he performed best, and described vault as his favorite event.

1968 Summer Olympics

Valles represented Mexico at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He competed in the men's individual all-around, all six individual apparatus events, and the men's team competition.

He finished 104th in the individual all-around with 99.05 points. His best apparatus result was in vault, where he scored 18.00 points and placed equal 68th. He was also equal 73rd on pommel horse with 17.25 points.

Fernando Valles at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Event Score Rank
Individual all-around 99.05 104th
Floor exercise 15.80 =106th
Pommel horse 17.25 =73rd
Rings 15.60 105th
Vault 18.00 =68th
Parallel bars 15.65 111th
Horizontal bar 16.75 =101st

Mexico finished 14th in the men's team competition with 518.25 points. The competing team consisted of Armando Valles, Rogelio Mendoza, José Vilchis, José González, Enrique García and Fernando Valles; Enrique Salazar was listed as the substitute.

1970 Central American and Caribbean Games

Valles continued representing Mexico after the Olympic Games. At the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama City, he was a member of the Mexican men's artistic gymnastics team that won the silver medal.

Mexico scored 516.0 points, finishing behind Cuba. The Mexican team consisted of Fernando Valles, Rogelio Mendoza, Manuel Vargas, Gerardo Araújo, José González and José Vilchis.

Academic career

Outside gymnastics, Valles studied a master's degree in microelectronics at the Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica (ESIME), Culhuacán Unit, of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. In 2008, Gaceta Politécnica reported that he was a professor at ESIME Culhuacán, where he taught subjects including digital signal processing, differential and integral calculus, complex variables, linear algebra, electronics and communications.

Institutional records from the IPN also document Valles's involvement in academic and research work at ESIME Culhuacán during the late 1990s.

Major results

Year Competition Location Event Result
1966 World Championships Dortmund, West Germany Men's all-around 142nd
1967 1967 Pan American Games Winnipeg, Canada Men's team 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Bronze
1968 1968 Summer Olympics Mexico City, Mexico Men's team 14th
1968 1968 Summer Olympics Mexico City, Mexico Individual all-around 104th
1970 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games Panama City, Panama Men's team 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Silver

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fernando Valles". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
  2. ↑ "1966 World Championships Men's AA". Gymn Forum. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Fernando Valles Montañez, gran medallista en pruebas gimnásticas". Gaceta Politécnica (in Spanish). No. 691. Instituto Politécnico Nacional. 9 September 2008. p. 14.
  4. 1 2 "Gimnasia, Protagonista Panamericana". Vanguardia (in Spanish). 22 September 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
  5. 1 2 "XIX Juegos Olímpicos" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comité Olímpico Mexicano. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
  6. 1 2 Montesinos, Enrique (2013). Los Juegos Regionales Más Antiguos (PDF) (in Spanish). Organización Deportiva Centroamericana y del Caribe. p. 263.
  7. ↑ "Memoria 1997–1998" (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Retrieved 15 September 2026.
  8. ↑ "Memoria 1998–1999" (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Retrieved 15 September 2026.