Three national athletes stood out as double medalists in the Pan American Games in Cali. What do they do, what is their age, what do they want in the future? Here, their stories and those of their families
Ivonne Nóchez, the 17-year-old skater who dreams of being a world champion
It had a great closing of the year. He won in the Junior Pan American Games in Cali, He was a medalist before the world, and then he took the Golden Spike as Female Star. And he’s only 17 years old. It is Ivonne Nóchez, the country’s benchmark skater.
In Colombia, the youth from Soyapango became the third best skater on the continent, hanging two bronze medals in the categories of 200 meters goal against goal and round the circuit. Two third podiums that helped the national harvest.
El Salvador and its history with participation in the Cali 2021 Junior Pan American Games
He studies his second year of high school at FESA, and in June 2022 he will graduate. Her journey is from a very young age. “I started skating at the age of five, because my father and grandmother started to take me, but it is not because I chose it. Later, I did start competing and winning, and I was a CA champion at the age of nine. I said to myself, ‘I can do more.’ And I got engaged, “he recalled.
If she had not been a skater, she relates what she would have done or would have seen to have practiced gymnastics. “I liked. They took me to dance classes, but I never completely finished or a specific sport that I worked on, ”he said.
In the future, Nóchez sees herself as a professional on a personal level and with sporting successes. “I would like to study nutrition or be a physiotherapist. Between those two, would be my future “, he claimed.
“In skating, to be a world champion, which is what I look forward to the most. In addition, of the entire Olympic cycle, it is to reach the highest level. (…) I always want to train and train to be the best, because I have not been the best yet, and to be at the top ”, she added.
Her family, in addition, has constantly supported her on this path and the sport has been at home, in other disciplines, such as her father who “did karate in his youth,” she said with a laugh. “My parents have always supported me,” she says with joy.
The other heroes in Cali 2021
In addition to the top double medalists, four more national athletes were added. Some did it with shared metal and others on an individual level. Thus, the Salvadorans Esteban Ibáñez (decathlon, silver), Fátima Centeno (badminton, mixed doubles silver), Andrea Ruiz (karate, bronze), Gerardo Rivas (archery, mixed doubles bronze) left part of the eight medals in the country. ESA closed, in the general medal table, in position 20 (three silver and eight tan), out of a final total of 28 countries that added Junior Pan American medals.
In that one also tells the one that his aunt gave him the singer Isis Gallardo (QDDG). She inspired her with her success and illuminates her from wherever she is. “She was very supportive of me when she was here with me. In my first Central American, he supported me. It keeps pushing me ”, he was honest.
At her young age, she is an example for Salvadoran women. “We can achieve great things, no matter what people say or think. It does not matter the age, nor the height. (…) I hope to motivate many people to practice sport. Skating has given me a lot of discipline, when I want to achieve something or get something. This has allowed me to fight for my dreams, and if I fall, to get up ”, he closed.
“It is an honor for me to always represent El Salvador. Every time I do it, it is a different, different and beautiful experience, and I always try to do it in the best way ”
Uriel Canjura, from Suchitoto to be number two in America
Athletes always wait years for a big harvest. And that happened with Uriel Canjura, the badminton player who, today, is the best card in this sport. Twelve years after the beginning of his career as an athlete (at age nine), with the impulse given by his stepfather, the native of Suchitoto became the second best athlete on the continent in his discipline.
In the Pan American Games in Cali, He was the guide of the country, not only by being the standard bearer, but also by hanging two silver medals: men’s singles and mixed doubles. “It has been a hard, difficult road, but beautiful because of everything I have been through. Forever. Away from everything since I was little, to be able to improve myself in sports ”, recalled Uriel, who later left his town in the San Antonio Community, in the Platanares canton, to train in the capital and live in the Central American Village.
66
ESA athletes at the Games. That was the number of nationals who attended the I Junior Pan American Games 2021, of them 41 for women and 25 for men. They did so in 20 sports disciplines, which left a promising future for Salvadoran sport in the Olympic cycle.
“My stepfather (his mother’s partner), Antonio (Ardón), brought some rackets to the house and there I began to practice. But at first, it was just a game. Then I already took it seriously. (…) I really liked football, it might have been another totally different path in my life. I played forward, but my destiny was badminton. “he admitted.
Currently, at 21, he is playing professionally and studying in Spain. He is going for his fourth year being part of the Oviedo Club and is taking his second study. “He had a higher degree in Business Administration Management. I have already finished one of Marketing and Commercial Activities. And later on, I hope to get a higher degree in physical education ”, he explained.
His mother Josetty Marina Artiga and his brother are also key in his support from a distance, especially now that he is in Europe and he had to live the pandemic alone. “It has been everyone’s sacrifice. For them, it is difficult that I am living far away. In the end, you think that all those things are worth it. “
In the not too distant future, after he classified the Youth Olympic Games of Buenos Aires 2018, Canjura struggles to “qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics and with the physical education module completed.” “All athletes also have in mind to leave a legacy to generations, it is present because we like it and it is part of us,” he reaffirmed.
“Badminton means a lot to my life, because now thanks to that and to God I am what I am. (…) At the Olympics, I dream of winning a medal ”, express.
“I am proud to be from Suchitote. Happy that El Salvador is making itself known on the continent for badminton. He was in two of three finals, that’s unique “
Paola Corado, an archer with a perfect youthful pulse for the continent
Her smile and her charisma always accompany her. And in Cali, at the peak of the Junior Pan American Games, they were with her at her best. When she took the podium, the shooter Paola Corado knew that she was the third best goalkeeper on the compound in all of America, something that is not achieved every day.
And it is that the one from Santa Tecla had a perfect white and a fine pulse in coffee soil. He was in charge of hanging two bronze medals: individual and mixed doubles. “It is the highest point for my career. The level is higher and the pressure is higher ”, he reiterated.
And it is that, after starting at age 13, growth has been rapid, despite the fact that he never imagined that he would stay in archery. “I went for my friend Marcela Cortez (recurve). They gave me a class at the Sports Center (in Merliot) and I stayed, ”said the now 18-year-old athlete.
His family is sporty, his uncle is Ernesto Estrada, who played soccer in L.Á. Firpo, and that motivated her to compete professionally. “I practiced gymnastics, two or three years, the same basketball, for two years. I liked tennis. I didn’t know about badminton, but it would have been an option. I’ve always liked it. But I no longer see myself in another sport “, be sincere.
His current situation is that of waiting to start his studies at the university. “I finished FESA in June, I got ready for Cali, and in 2022 I started my Architecture studies. It is always something that caught my attention, drawing, putting together, and I decided for this ”, he explained.
“In the future, I want to graduate, with sports it may take me more years, but I hope to do so. And form my company or associate with someone to achieve a design and architecture company, I like interior design, “he added. She did not forget the most important thing: “In sports, I want to be a world champion.”
Having, in addition, the incentive of your family joins that Roberto Hernandez, the greatest exponent of the arc in the country, be his coach. “He is a great coach. He has a lot of knowledge, experience, I admire that, and he shares it with us. He’s an archery dad to me, he’s quite demanding. It gives you support and helps you outside of sports ”, he said.
As for being a Salvadoran female example, with her achievements, she stated: “Archery is my everything. It is a feeling of pride and Salvadoran women must know that there is support and that they can achieve what they propose and want, and fulfill the goals they have.
On the fact that she was flagged, she said: “It is a great responsibility. But I worked to be able to win those medals not for that, but for myself and for the country. It is a joy to accomplish both. Extreme happiness Archery means the perseverance and discipline that I can have if I set myself certain goals. As I said: it’s my everything, “he said.
“It is an exceptional experience. Incredible. It is the result of work and of meeting the objectives of the year. Winning both medals means one more step towards greater achievements “
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