But the pandemic intervened in Sansores' career just as he was reaching another significant level.

Having won the heavyweight over-87 kilograms title at the Pan American Championships in 2018, the young athlete from Chetumal carried his form over to 2019 to produce an impressive performance at the World Championships in Manchester.

After defeating Azerbaijan's Rio 2016 champion Radik Isaev 7-2 in the quarter-final, the Mexican advanced to the final, where he lost 9-5 to Cuba's 2013 world champion Rafael Alba.

Soon afterwards he competed in the Pan American Games in Lima, where he earned bronze in the under-80kg category.

After a scant series of events in 2020 he added a silver to the Pan American Championships gold he had won in 2018 and swiftly earned revenge for his defeat in the final by beating gold medallist Jonathan Healy of the United States in the Mexico Open final in Cancun.

Having arrived in Tokyo with high hopes, however, he soon found himself back down at ground level as he lost his opening contest 6-4 to Croatia's 13th seed Ivan Sapina.

But if his first Olympics were a letdown, Sansores set about restoring his pride and prestige in 2022, which he began by regaining the Pan American Championship in Punta Cana, beating Healy in the final.

The season's highlight of the World Championships, in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, offered him the opportunity of earning a prestigious home victory - and he took it.

Once again he found himself up against Healy, this time in the quarter-final, but he earned a win to advance to a contest with Sajjad Mardani of Iran, the 2013 world silver medallist. He duly reached the final, where he earned gold with a 5-3, 4-0 win over Ivan Garcia of Spain.

Sansores followed up with a fabulous run in the Grand Prix final in Riyadh, reaching the final but losing to the London 2012 gold medallist Cheick Sallah Cisse of Ivory Coast.

The Mexican can build again and look forward to Paris 2024 with well-founded optimism.