Road to London 2012!
Ximena Restrepo Gaviria
Did you know- By the early 1990s, Colombia’s sprinter Ximena Restrepo Gaviria caused a sensation when she earned a bronze medal in the women’s 400m at the Summer Games in the Spaniard city of Barcelona. She is one of the few Hispanic sprinters to win an Olympic medal. Inspired by Juana Mosquera and Eucaris Caicedo, she won many international events in America, South America and Europe during the years from 1985 and 1992. In that time, Colombia’s Olympic ambassador Restrepo Gaviria was the toast of the Latin American sporting community.By September 1988, she came in 34th place, ahead of Joyce Odhiambo (Kenya, Africa) and Gaily Dube (Zimbabwe, Africa), in the women’s 200m in the Summer Games in South Korea, among 51 athletes. After her retirement from the national team, South America’s sprinters were never as successful again at the Summer Olympic Games.
Alicia Mora Romero
Did you know- By 2004, the nation’s athlete Alicia Mora Romero came in fifth place in the women’s 49-kilogram category at the Olympic Taekwondo Tournament in Athens (Greece).
Leidy Yessenia Solis
Did you know- Weightlifter Leidy Yessenia Solis, 17, won the gold medal in the women’s 69-kilogram category at the Junior World Championships in Prague (Czech Republic) in 2007. Since then, she should be a medal contender in the 2012 London Olympics.
Olga Lucia Angulo
Did you know- At the 1970 Central American and Caribbean Games in Panama City, Colombia’s swimmer Olga Lucia Angulo won two gold medals.
Basketball
Did you know- Colombia hosted the Women’s Basketball World Championship in the mid-1970s. Despite having one of the best basketball players in Latin America, Sofia Nieto, the local team lost all six of its matches. At that year, they came in sixth place in the 7th Pan American Games, behind America, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, and Canada. During the Games in the United Mexican States, Colombia beat El Salvador 96-59. Nine years later, surprisingly, Colombia defeated Brazil 62-51 and won the South American Championship. By 1983, the team of Brazil had won the bronze medal in women’s basketball at the 9th Pan American Games in Venezuela. The South American winners, under the direction of Guillermo Moreno Rumie, were Consuelo Aristazabal, Maria de Jesús Arizala, Gloria Gomez, Elizabeth Hinestroza, Irene Lamprea, Miriam León, Norma Lozano, Margarita Marti, Patricia Ordoñez, Gloria Ortiz, Yaneth Torijano, and Monica Villasmil. The women’s basketball squad of Colombia is the sixth South American team to win the Continental Tournament, after Chile (1946), Argentina (1948), Paraguay (1952), Brazil (1954), and Peru (1977).