He is 21 years old and despite the fact that he debuted in an event of the Olympic cycle in the Bolivarian Games of Valledupar, last July, it was not until this Tuesday, October 11, in Asunción, Paraguay, that he climbed to the top of the podium of the South American Games. It was a personal revenge, he had promised.
After an impeccable campaign, disputing all his preliminary fights in the main key, the Ecuadorian judoka John Paul Ayala He was crowned champion of the -60 kg division of this sport’s tournament in the second event of the Olympic cycle.
the born in Macas, province of Morona-Santiago, He was the only Amazonian athlete in the discipline and rose to the top, after beating Venezuelan Iván Salas in the final with more than enough merit.
South American Games: Ecuador qualifies for the final after beating Uruguay 3-1
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“I’m happy, they worked hard for this. Before going out to combat we studied the rival and we were focused on doing what we had to do and everything was given. The gold is dedicated to the family, coaches, teammates and all those who supported this achievement”, said Ayala excitedly.
On the first day of judo, medals were also expected from other favorites such as Lenin Preciado in the -66 kg and Astrid Gavidia in the 57 kg, but in the end they only obtained bronzes.
In open water, the tricolor harvest of the day gave a silver medal, with Esteban Enderica, from Azuay, who finished second in the 10 kilometers, while his compatriot, David Farinango, was fifth. The positions will allow both swimmers to qualify directly for the Pan American Games in Santiago 2023.
For this Wednesday, October 12, one of the most anticipated Ecuadorian disputes will be that of gold in soccer. The Tricolor sub-20 will face the hosts, Paraguay, at 14:00 (Ecuador time), for the historic medal of the South American Games.
The team led by Jimmy Bran reaches an unprecedented dispute for the title of the second event of the Olympic cycle, after convincingly winning 3-1 in the semifinals against Uruguay, while the home team comes from winning 4-2 against Colombia. The scoring hope is deposited in the top national scorer, Justin Leather, who was the author of the three goals of qualifying for the match for the title.
“We had been studying the rival and we knew the difficulties that would come up for us,” said Cuero after qualifying. This Wednesday his manifest talent is expected to help achieve the long-awaited gold.
