The International Grand Prix that will take place at the El Salitre Sports Unit, in Bogotá, will take place from 8 am to 7 pm and will have two days: an Invitational Festival in the morning, preparatory to the 2023 National Sports Games, and the competitions of the International Grand Prix, in the afternoon, in the senior category, in which athletes from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, among others.
Paulo Villar, president of the Bogotá Athletics League, affirms that “this championship is a good event for athletes who continue to search for the brand for the Pan American Games to obtain it.”
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It should be noted that this event has the endorsement of the South American Athletics Confederation and the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics).
Besides, it’s near World athletics championship, which will take place from August 19 to 27 in Budapest, Hungary. In the coming days, the Colombian Athletics Federation will define the list of athletes that will represent us in this event.
‘My goals have always been clear’
With a record of 8.29 meters, arnovis dalmero climbed to the top of the podium at the South American Athletics Championships held from July 28 to 30 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. From the beginning of 2023, he began the path to achieve this mark that gave him the direct ticket to continue with his sights set on Budapest and Paris.
“My goals have always been clear: to be able to get a world medal and stand out as best as I can. I’m going to do my best so that it is reflected in the brands, who can’t help but have a very good one come out”. With this mark he improved the older national record, which was under his possession.
Jump after jump, his biggest challenge is to be constant and to exceed his records more and more.
“It’s a bit hard for athletes because you finish competing and you have to continue training, continue preparing for the next competition and be better. It is a great challenge but it is necessary to know how to overcome it”. At the World Cup in Budapest, he hopes to surpass the record set in Brazil, which currently ranks him ninth in the world.
The height of Bogotá and the conditions of the track are some of the factors that for Arnovis make the International Grand Prix an opportunity to make good marks, taking into account that part of his competition calendar was affected by an injury that prevented from being part of the Colombian roster that represented us at the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Sports Games San Salvador 2023. “Jump as best as possible, what if a good record comes out.”
‘I have cried, I have made many sacrifices’
For Natalia Linares, San Salvador was the perfect city to jump the 6.86 meters with which she won the gold medal at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games. This mark positions her as one of the best jumpers of this year’s season and confirms her record national and South American under-23 category that he held the previous year at the Bolivarian Games in his hometown, Valledupar. In addition, it gives direct classification to the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Linares has been preparing so far this year to qualify for these international events. Despite working for it, it was a surprise for her to achieve this goal so quickly.
“I have cried, I have made many sacrifices, because I have moved much further away from my family to be a little more focused on what training is. I’ve demanded too much of myself, I think that’s one of my weak points: I demand a lot from myself and if I don’t do it well I get frustrated, but we have to continue”.
Qualifying for the last round of long jump on August 19, facing the final on the 20th, being among the eight best in the world and winning the medal are some of the objectives that Natalia wants to achieve at the World Cup. “That’s why we’ve been training to bring home the gold medal.”
He has an exact year of preparation for the Olympic Games. In that time he hopes to further correct his technique and improve his mark in order to get closer to the Olympic and world record.
“At first one does not assimilate that he made a good mark”
At just 19 years old, Ronald Longa he became the first Colombian to lower the ten-second barrier in the 100-meter dash. 9.99 was his mark, performed at the South American Athletics Championships in Brazil, with which he won the bronze medal. This record was enough to qualify for these two international events and positioned him ninth in the world ranking of the season.
“I have always taken things well, I have assimilated them because at first one does not assimilate that he made a good mark and even more so being so young. You don’t believe it. Afterwards, when one is colder, he starts to think and realizes that he has trained very hard to achieve that mark. Injuries and everything make you stronger. I don’t know how I feel. I don’t know how to describe happiness, I can’t express it”.
One of his biggest challenges is stretching, he says that he is inflexible and that has caused him some pain in the hamstring (the back of the thigh), but despite that it has not prevented him from making historical records that allow him to prevail in older categories, being sub-20.
“I’m already a little better, it doesn’t hurt anymore, I’m in therapy until I go to the World Cup. I think the same run hard, go for a run. My coach always tells us that showing respect to the opponents is not going out to run easy: it’s going out to run hard and give your best”.
Longa is clear that his greatest motivation is himself. He doesn’t look for external motivations “like saying ‘I’m going to run for this person’, no, I do it for myself to see how far I’m capable of going. I know I can go much further than that.” In addition, he is excited to know that his rivals are elite and that motivates him to go out and run even harder.
MARIA ALEJANDRA GONZALEZ
School of Multimedia Journalism EL TIEMPO
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