Bogotá, Jun 29 (EFE) .- The president of Colombia, Iván Duque, officially handed over the flag this Tuesday that the delegation of Colombian athletes from 13 disciplines will carry to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
“I have no doubt that you will arrive in Tokyo with the task and with the mission of bringing to our country the highest number of medals achieved in the Olympics,” said the head of state in a ceremony held at the Casa de Nariño.
The Colombian flag was received by the bicicross Olympic champion Mariana Pajón, although the standard bearer will be the Olympic triple jump champion Caterine Ibargüen, who is finishing her preparation outside the country.
For the Tokyo Olympics, Colombia has, to date, 55 classified athletes, with the expectation that they may be 80, when all pre-Olympic events and qualifiers for each sport close.
For now, the country will participate in archery, athletics, boxing, fencing, equestrianism, cycling, wrestling, “skateboarding”, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, golf, weightlifting and sports shooting.
Duque stressed that each broken brand is an incentive for “millions of children and young people so that this is also their destiny.”
“It is with immense pride that we deliver the national flag to tell our athletes ‘go ahead’, continue representing our country as you have done and always go with that motivation to conquer in your disciplines the medals that fill the country with joy,” he added. Duke.
Colombia has 29 Olympic medals, from the first one achieved by Helmut Bellingrodt (shooting) in Munich 1972, who today is the head of the Colombia Mission for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Colombia won eight medals: three gold, two silver and three bronze.
From Rio, Colombia was champion of the Bolivarian Games Santa Marta 2017 and the South American Games Cochabamba 2018.
Likewise, Colombia hosted the 2018 Barranquilla Central American and Caribbean Games with good results and expectations were exceeded at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. EFE
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