In the largely indigenous city of El Alto, Bolivia, over 13,000 above sea level, a new sport has sprung up: Cholita wrestling. Modeled after Mexican Lucha Libre, Cholita wrestling features Aymara women, popularly called Cholitas, who are known for wearing multiple layers of lace petticoats under their pleated skirts, and for their traditionally role as market vendors.

In this sequence, Marisol Khali, a 17-year old newcomer to the sport, passed 0ut after her opponent, “Jennifer,” applied a painful jiujitsu lock to her leg. Once she regained her senses in the locker room, I asked Marisol if she felt like returning to the ring after this ordeal. She scoffed at the thought of quitting. Ever since she was eight she had dreamed of being a professional freestyle wrestler, even though at that time only men entered the ring.