On July 3, a group of people held downtown Mexico City to protest for the opening of gyms that, according to the plans proposed by the government last week, will be some of the last facilities to be open back up in a couple of months. 

As ironic as it may seem, the protestors exercised in the middle of the street and caused a traffic jam as a show of protest.  

“A gym is a healthy place,” argued gym owners while squatting and exercising. “I want to see the police officers working out here with us." 

The demonstration was an attempt to challenge and expose police officers’ lack of preparation.

Obesity and bad shape are two physical conditions that commonly come to mind when talking about police officers in Mexico.

However, as Pablo Eduardo Ramírez Lemus, a transit police officer who lost a leg in a car accident years ago said after accepting the challenge proposed by the protestors: “We are not all like that.” 

Two minutes and more than 60 push-ups were more than enough for officer Ramírez Lemus to demonstrate that people’s prejudices and generalizations about officers in Mexico are usually inaccurate.

“People said we don’t have the condition to do our job,” explained the unbeaten police officer in an interview for El Universal.

The video of the pushup challenge between the protestor and the police officer was posted on Twitter and went viral in a couple of hours. Everyone wanted to know more about the police hero. 

Pablo Ramírez Lemus used to be a motorcycle police officer until 2011, when he suffered a traffic accident that caused him to lose a leg. After the tragedy, Ramírez Lemus started practicing sports until he became a Paralympic Athlete. 

Nowadays, Ramírez Lemus is part of Mexico's National Rowing team and his biggest dream is to represent Mexico in the next Paralympic Games that, because of COVID-19, will be in Tokyo next summer.

“I’m getting ready for Tokyo 2021,” said the police officer.

As Ramírez Lemus stated after becoming viral, sports have been his best ally for overcoming the tough times he had after the traffic accident he suffered in 2011. Because of this, he encourages people to exercise themselves and to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Ramirez Lemus's triumph was also highlighted by the city's head of government who congratulated the officer after defeating the protestor.