In the Paralympic games in Tokyo, which end on September 5, our country participates with a delegation of 69 athletes, including eight guides who carry out important work in obtaining medals.
The guides are necessary for the support of athletes with visual and motor disabilities and severe cerebral palsy. Among the nine disciplines in which Colombia participates, three of them need these supportive athletes: athletics, swimming and boccia.
Camilo Andrés Lancheros is an athlete who arrived from Tokyo a few days ago, where he participated as Francy Osorio’s guide in athletics, in the 1,500-meter modality. There they reached the semifinal of this competition.
Radio Nacional de Colombia spoke with Lancheros about their transition from conventional sports to adapted athletics. Also about the work carried out by a guide in this discipline.
Lancheros has been an athlete for more than 17 years. He was a national champion in the 800 meter dash. On several occasions he represented Bogotá in national events.
When he was taking a sports training course at SENA, one of the instructors, who was an athlete with visual impairment, told him that there were many athletes who did not have guides and that they needed to run with people to accompany them.
“I have always had that very marked service aptitude and it seemed important to me to collaborate in such a task, more in a sport that one likes. We did a test with an athlete named Raúl Zarate, with him we became national champions, but then Zárate decided to change his sport and switched to judo ”, he says.
So, Camilo was left without an athlete until he had the opportunity to meet Francy Osorio (one of the best para-athletes in the country), and he could be his guide. They began training in January 2020 but due to the isolation of the pandemic, they had to stop. Then they resumed the exercises and managed to run in competitions of the 800 and 1,500 meters.
“The guide, basically, is the eyes of the visually impaired athlete. He is the person who guides the race, who makes the strategy, who keeps pace with the race, who is within the competition, who knows when to attack and when to slacken. Also when to finish off. He is the one who is always talking to the athlete to mark the times and tell him how much distance is left ”.
In Paralympic athletics, according to Camilo, there are three categories that are: 11, where athletes with complete visual impairment are grouped; 12 (which is where Francy and Camilo compete), in which people with a very reduced visual field participate, and 13, which are athletes with low vision, that is, those who see the best.
Regarding the regulations, Camilo points out that “the guide cannot pull the athlete. Nor can it hinder the other competitors because it would be disqualified. The guide can never pass his partner or pass the goal before him. The guide cannot lift his partner if he falls. In addition, at no time can it be released from the tie with which the other athlete is attached ”.
Finally, Camilo Lancheros says that the key as a guide is that there is good coordination between the two athletes. The guide has to adapt to the length of the athlete’s stride. You must know your partner and know when it can be demanded. That experience is achieved with a lot of training and participating in many competitions.
Paracycling
We also spoke with the experienced cyclist from Antioquia Marlon Pérez, who was world track champion in 1994 and who has had a great career in conventional cycling nationally and internationally. For four years he has dedicated himself to Paralympic cycling as a guide for Javier Serna, with whom they have achieved important triumphs.
“In 2016, when I was thinking of running my last year with the SuperGiros team, for reasons of fate I met in the municipality of La Ceja (Antioquia) a Paralympic cyclist who was missing his left hand. He asked me to train him and told me that I could be a tandem guide. I had not heard of this type of race. Then he assured me that he was going to introduce me to Javier Serna, who was the Pan American champion, to see what he would say, “he says.
At the beginning, Marlon says, that when he met Serna, he was not very excited. But the following year Serna called him to see if he could help him as a guide. Thus began this pair that after strong training, managed to fit together so well that they have been considered one of the best Tandem in America.
The Tandem is a two-seater bicycle in line, guided by a cyclist without vision problems accompanying a visually impaired cyclist. Bicycles can cost between 10 and 50 million pesos depending on the material (aluminum or carbon). You have to import them because they are not manufactured in the country.
“The key is to keep the same rhythm between the two riders. Also, have the same strength and trust each other. The guide is the one who has the visual, the one who manages the changes, the brakes and the one who makes the decisions. Your partner limits himself to what the guide tells him and to make the same effort. It is a couple’s sport because you always have to train together, always think about the same thing, with the same mentality, ”he says.
Marlon, who lives in La Ceja, and Javier in Guarne (Antioquia) train between three and five hours, four times a week. Marlon says that sometimes Javier, as he has a low vision range, does his training individually on the roads he knows. From time to time they train at the Medellín velodrome where they also ride a track bike, which is totally different from the Tandem.
“Since 2017 we have been national champions, both on the track and in all modalities. We were world road champions in South Africa in 2017. We were also champions of the Pan American Games that were held in Lima, Peru, two years ago. We had every expectation of participating in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, but at the last minute they decided to bring other cyclists ”, concludes Marlon Pérez.
Bowl
Colombia debuted in this sport which has been part of the Paralympic program since the 1984 New York Games. It is practiced individually, in pairs or teams, on a rectangular track in which the athletes try to throw their balls as close as possible of the white ball that serves as an objective, at the same time that they try to move away those of their opponents.
Boccia is practiced by people in a wheelchair who have cerebral palsy, brain injury, or severe physical disability. According to the type of capacity, a guide is required.
For this occasion, Colombia sent three athletes with their respective guides: Duban Camilo Cely (guide: Mario Augusto Verdugo), Euclides Grisales Díaz (guide: Jairo Orlando Galindo) and Leidy Johanna Chica (guide: Lina Marcela Lozano).
Swimming
In the case of swimming, athletes with vision problems compete aided from the edge of the pool by the guide who indicates through a turn signaling pole when they are about to reach the end of the pool.
In this sport, Colombians Luis Eduardo Rojas Osorno compete in Tokyo with his guide Jorge Raúl Villa Osorno. Richard Mateo Vega Correcha and his guide Ricardo Vega Cucunubá also participate.
Guides are an essential part of athletics, cycling, and other disciplines in Paralympic sport. From the 2012 London Olympics, it was decided to award the route guides of all athletes who suffer from partial or total blindness, giving them a place on the podium.
Likewise, the Ministry of Sports and the Colombian Paralympic Committee (CPC) have support programs for the guide athlete regarding the salary that can be earned according to the results in the competitions.
Although there are few athletes in the country who engage in this somewhat unknown activity, the work of conventional athletes who jump into Paralympic sport to support athletes with disabilities is laudable.
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