By: Viviana Madrigal C.
According to a balance made by the National Olympic Committee, during 2021 Costa Rica not only managed to classify the largest number of athletes in its history to the Olympic Games, but also bathed for the first time gold in a Paralympic jousting.
From July 23 to August 8, a total of 11 Costa Rican athletes represented our country at the Tokyo Olympics. Kenneth Tencio was very close to bronze, closing with a historic fourth place in BMX Freestyle; Surfer Brisa Hennessy also filled the entire country with emotions with a fifth place and Ignacio Sancho gave Costa Rica its first victory in the judo of the Olympic Games reaching a ninth place.
But the Olympic medals would arrive a few days later at the Paralympic Games by Sherman Guity in the 200 meter flat T64 and silver in the 100 meter T64.
In the first Cali 2021 Junior Pan American Games, a new young generation of athletes managed to place the country as the best delegation in Central America by adding 10 medals; 2 golds, 3 silvers and 5 bronzes.
In addition, in most of the 21 disciplines in which the country was represented, the athletes were among the best 8 in America, adding a total of 48 Pan American diplomas.
At the individual level, the world runner-up in raquetball is added to Andrés Acuña and the ticket among the best 12 in the world to be in the World Games; the classification of Brisa Hennessy and Carlos Muñoz to the World Surfing Tour; and Kenneth Tencio’s first place in the Pan American BMX Freestyle.
Behind these positive results is an investment of ₡ 448,485,175 by the Ministry of Sports (Midepor) and the Costa Rican Institute of Sports and Recreation (ICODER).
