The emotion of the silver medal Colombian Yeison Lopez in the 89 kilos of weights, a very important achievement for the delegation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but a fact that almost went into the trash.
According to the criteria of
López suffered a serious back injury when his spinal discs became dehydrated and he had to undergo surgery.
The back
On December 21, 2022, in Bogotá, He was operated on by the doctor Tito Perillaa surgery that cost him 16 million pesos, which he took out of his pocket, but which at the same time Indervalle gave it back to him.
It seemed like everything had been overcome, but that was not the case. At the most inopportune moment, López felt pain and alarm bells went off in the weightlifting team.
Two weeks ago, Lopez said he was in pain. The doctor, Omar Caicedoassessed it and decided to reduce the athlete’s loads and ordered him not to lift any more.
In the hands of Caicedo and the physiotherapist, Nicolas Acostathe Chocó native became nervous and the entire team was waiting for his recovery.
In Turkey, where the team had its training camp, López underwent two sessions of shock wave therapy and arrived in Paris with uncertainty.
The weightlifter only started lifting barbells again six days ago, so his fitness for the competition was a big question mark.
During Friday’s competition, Lopez, 24, felt a slight pain when he tried to lift 180 kilos in the snatch. He went into the locker room and told them. Arrieta, Caicedo and Acosta immediately got to work.
The hard moment
He went back out and lifted 180 kilos to secure the top spots. In the clean and jerk, the pain persisted. At that point, he did not even think about retiring, if the pain persisted.
It was not the time, Luis ArrietaThe coach whispered in his ear, telling him that he had to give it his all, that he had to take risks and go out and get that 210.
Lopez’s nerves got the better of him. He came out like a bull, but he was a worried man. He couldn’t risk lifting more than he was supposed to, because it could be worse.
Lopez did it, he got in first, but he knew that Karlos Nasar from Bulgaria, would shatter his rivals, as he eventually did.
When he lifted the 210 kilos, he knelt on the platform, stood up, went down the stairs, and entered the dressing room. He was already in tears, and he continued crying, then went over to where the group of his compatriots were and threw himself on the floor.
He was overwhelmed with happiness. He cried like a child and had a hard time standing up, a source told TIME.
The same one that confirmed that López competed at half speed, because if he had done it at his usual pace, most likely today there would be no talk of the medal.
Born in Chocano, López placed second in total with 351 kilos, surpassed by the Bulgarian and big favorite, Karlos Nasar, who broke stereotypes, because at 404 kilos he won gold and set a world record.
The bronze medal went to the Italian Antonino Pizzolato, with 384 kilos. On a memorable day for López.
Lisandro Rengifo
Special correspondent from EL TIEMPO in Paris
@lisandroabel
#Yeison #López #moment #tension #Colombian #locker #room #withdrawal #silver #medalist #considered
