Yenny Fernanda Álvarez Caicedo He has a long way to go, which will have his first and hard season in Paris, in 2024, when he will play the Olympic Games.
That challenge, the one between his eyebrows, feeds him day by day, day after day, training by training and in competition.
(You can read: They reveal the VAR dialogue that could leave Argentina without the World Cup in Qatar).
Born on May 24, 1995 in Cali, Valle del Cauca, Álvarez has had a year full of gold, victories, with which she assures that she is on the right track for Paris, her highest goal, for now, in sport.
of old potential
He won gold in the snatch and clean and jerk of the 59 kilos in the past Bolivarian Games de Valledupar and was crowned champion of the same division in the South American Games of Asuncion (Paraguay).
Yenny Fernanda also had one more challenge in 2022: the World Cup, and it was not only because it is a litmus test for what is to come, but also because the tournament was in Bogota, played at home and gave her a guideline to see how she was compared to the rivals she will have in two years. And her day came. The Colombian responded to favoritism. Álvarez lifted 133 kilos for first place in the clean and jerk and, with the 101 from the snatch, he achieved gold in total with 234.
Kuo Hsing-Chun, from Chinese Taipei, kept the money, while Maude Charron, from Canadagot bronze.
The result is good, because not only did he achieve the goal, but winning the total gives him an important guideline for Paris, where the sum of the two exercises will be rewarded.
Álvarez Caicedo is clear that his objective must be met, that he has the basis of what he has learned and all the potential to do so.
He has to work, that’s true, but he has an advantage: the 59 kilos in which he lifts is an Olympic category, so he doesn’t have to make efforts to gain or lose weight to face the competition.
It is for the above that Yenny Fernanda is, for EL TIEMPO, the second best athlete of the year in the country.
What does this 2022 mean to you?
I am very satisfied with what I have done. The results we planned have been achieved. They were desired goals and that makes me happy and calm.
And your future?
That gives me peace of mind with a view to the Paris Olympics. It is one more plus, because I have managed to do it in a category that is Olympic and that at the same time demands a lot.
What has been the key?
Are a lot of things; In addition to what I have already mentioned, it must be said that these efforts that I have made with the coach, Luis Arrieta, are paying off and I have confidence in what is to come. I owe him many things and with him I always have my back.
The Olympics, his goal
What program is coming?
Let’s go step by step. I can’t say what I have calculated, the clear thing is that I have to continue training in the best way, conscientiously. Because the cycle is short and we can’t compete in all the tournaments that come, that’s why you have to plan each step.
She is one of the best athletes of the year…
I have worked hard for all this. The results speak and that makes me very calm. Well, that recognition is pleasing to me, because it is an example for the children, for the new generations of the weights.
Speaking of the World Cup, what did you need to make a better start?
It was good, I can’t say it was bad, because we didn’t get a medal. The last attempt was not executed, but that gives me the opportunity to continue working on technical gestures and adjustments day by day. I think I felt good, that I was going the way it was, but we have to fix the technical issue, which hurt me.
The cycle is short, what are the plans?
We have to wait and sit down with Arrieta to define what we are going to do. We have to shorten everything, because the cycle is not like before, we only have a year and a half for Paris, so we have to design the correct plan. There are several competitions, the Central American and Caribbean Games, the Pan American Games, the World Cup, the qualifiers, in short.
And towards Paris?
The cycle is short. It’s not the four years we had before. Tokyo was in 2021 and the next Games are in 2024, it’s only three years and there’s a lot of competition. You have to see what is most convenient, we cannot go to all the contests, you have to be aware of that or we can throw away the plan.
You had a doping problem, what do you analyze about that today?
I am interested in the present. I don’t like to remember the past. It was a complex issue, because when athletes are in trouble they are abandoned, some take the path of retirement because they feel alone.
Did you lack support?
It’s hard. I couldn’t get ahead without support. One has to have courage to face those issues. I tell those starting out in sports that you have to get up from those hard knocks in life, but I also have a message for the people who surround athletes: never leave them alone.
What was the use of all that for what he went through?
I think about how I started in the sport. I was trained since I was 14 years old, so that helped me to motivate myself. I arrived in Bogotá and this land saw me born as an athlete, I represent it and that fills me with motivation. Many people have shaken my hand here.
Lisandro Rengifo
EL TIEMPO journalist
@lisandroabel
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