This Wednesday, March 8, International Women’s Day is commemorated, which is why it is a good time to remember all the efforts of the Costa Rican athletes who have represented Costa Rica in the area of sport.
From boxing, swimming, soccer and even athletics are some of the disciplines that athletes have represented Costa Rica in one way or another. That is why a compilation of some of the most important athletes for the Costa Rican country will be made below:
Diana Brenes
Diana Brenes obtained a silver medal in the Absolute Judo Championship of Spain that was held at the beginning of December of the previous year.
More than 300 judokas competed inside this bubble hotel with all possible hygiene and safety measures where the Tica, who competed representing the Academy of Alicante directed by the Spanish Carlos Montero, took over one of the medals of the Absolute Judo Championship Spanish in the -78 kilos category.
Brenes has three medals in Pan American Championships, obtained in 2017, 2018 and now 2020.
Andrea Ramirez
Andrea Ramírez left Costa Rica after the 2008 crisis, looked for opportunities in Hong Kong and has now been chosen as the most influential woman to forge the fitness world with her studio AndFit HK.
The fitness instructor and businesswoman opened her premises in March 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and despite closing three of the almost nine months, due to the confinement caused by Covid-19, she managed to get ahead with an innovative fitness center based on the motto ” Pure Life”.
The Hashtag Legend lifestyle magazine chose her as the most amazing woman in the fitness world due to her life story and success with her business.
Shirley Cruz and Katherine Alvarado
Shirley Cruz is the most successful Central American soccer player of all time. In Costa Rica, she won three local championships and then made the leap to France in 2005. There she played with Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyon. With this team she achieved six French league titles, she won two French Cups and two UEFA Champions Leagues (2011 and 2012).
After going through the Chinese league, she returned to Costa Rica, where she won another crown with Alajuelense and this year she made her debut in the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States, with the OL Reign club.
Cruz has been part of the Costa Rican national team since 2003 and his performance was very important in the team’s qualification for the 2015 World Cup.
The prestigious Forbes Central America magazine published the list of the 100 most powerful women on the isthmus in 2020, where the Costa Rican soccer players Shirley Cruz, who plays for Ol Reign of the United States women’s league, and Katherine Alvarado, soccer player for Deportivo Saprissa, stood out. .
Women from Central America and the Dominican Republic appeared on the list, who stood out in areas such as industry, science, medicine, gastronomy, activism and sports, either in the field of senior management, in the development of innovations or showing their physical abilities.
In addition, in the case of Shirley Cruz, she was also nominated for the Puskas award for Best Goal from the previous season and was on the list of the 55 best soccer players in the world.
Daniela Solera
Costa Rican goalkeeper Daniela Solera was proclaimed national champion in Colombia with Independiente de Santa Fe after beating América de Cali.
Solera is the only Costa Rican to win the women’s title in Colombia (she previously won it in 2018 with Huilá).
The Costa Rican sealed a campaign in which they only had one defeat and one draw throughout the competition, being the set with the best numbers.
Noelia Vargas
With a time of 45:00:91 obtained in the 10,000-meter walk test at the National Athletics Championship, the walker Noelia Vargas was placed in the Top 10 in the world, in the 2020 season.
“I am very happy with my time, in addition to being a national record, it is one of the best records in the world in the 10,000 meters, we are in ninth place in the 2020 season! There is no doubt, we are on the right track, I finished physically well and now we have to continue looking to improve”, mentioned Noelia.
Over time on that occasion, Noelia Vargas displaced the Australian Katie Hayward from ninth place, who has 45:14.03, the eighth in the ranking is Jemina Montag also from Australia.
Women’s Cycling Team
The nationals Milagro Mena, María José Vargas and Marcela Rubiano were in charge of taking the podium in the Central American Cycling Championship that was held in Panama.
Being Mena the one who achieved the gold, Vargas the silver and Rubiano the bronze; leaving the name of Costa Rica at the top of cycling.
From Yoka to Valle
Valle is a five-time world champion at 102, 105 and 108 pounds. She continues her career under the tutelage of the prestigious Golden Boy boxing promoter, Óscar de La Hoya, and also her manager, Mario Vega.
La Tica trains in the United States under the orders of the American-Mexican Gloria Alvarado and, this 2023, she will seek to continue her harvest of triumphs. The athlete has even made it clear that she would like to fight with a crowd at the National Stadium.
Brisa Hennessy
The Costa Rican surfer finished the 2022 World Surfing Tour in fifth place. This year, she has already played the first two dates, where she was fifth in both days, held in Hawaii.
The national is ready to play the third date of the World Tour, scheduled from March 8 to 16.
“I am very happy to be in Portugal, thank God every day I feel better and I have the motivation for the event, I will continue to give my best, thanks to your love and support. Hugs, pure life,” Brisa told his arrival in Peniche, Portugal.
After the fifth date, the organization makes a cut of the 12 best women, so if it continues with its good pace, it would get closer to staying more and more in competition.
Diana Bogantes
The athlete continues writing golden pages in Costa Rican athletics, as she managed to break the national and Central American record in the half marathon.
With a time of 1:13.08, Bogantes left first place in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon, in the United States. The competition was held on Sunday, February 26.
This mark exceeds the time achieved by the Olympic athlete Gabriela Traña (1:15.01), in Edinburgh, in May 2012, as reported by the Costa Rican Athletics Federation (Fecoa).
Vielka Arias
The pole vaulter became known when she became the first Costa Rican to jump the three-meter mark. Currently, she holds the longest national record for her, which is 3.50 meters.
Recently, she was awarded as the most outstanding athlete in the National Sports Games by San José.
His story of overcoming stands out, because when he broke the national record for the first time, he did not have adequate poles or mats for his training sessions.
Claudia y Sylvia Poll
The most famous swimming sisters in Latin America are from Costa Rica. They were not born there, but in Nicaragua and their parents were German; but later the family moved to Costa Rican territory and both became naturalized. With that flag they shone in the pools for more than a decade. Sylvia and Claudia Poll are the only Costa Ricans to have been on an Olympic podium.
In the summer event in Seoul, in 1988, Sylvia won the silver medal in the 200-meter freestyle, with a time of 1:58.67. At those Games she came close to the podium in the 100 meters, in which she finished fifth. Four years later, at Barcelona 1992, she swam the 200-meter backstroke and finished fifth.
Sylvia won 10 medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1986 and won nine medals, four of them gold, between the Pan American Games in Indianapolis 1987 and Havana 1991.
On three occasions, she was selected the best athlete of the year in Costa Rica and was chosen as the athlete of the eighties. In 2009 this swimming legend received the Olympic Merit medal.
His sister Claudia is two years younger. At the 1996 Athens Olympic Games, she entered the history of Costa Rican sports by winning the title in the 200-meter freestyle and became the first –and only- Olympic champion from Costa Rica. Then, in Sydney 2000, Claudia expanded her legend, after winning two medals, both bronze, in the 200 and 400-meter freestyle.
Claudia also achieved excellent results in world championships, both long and short course, in which she won a total of eight medals, five of them gold. These results earned her to be considered the best athlete in Costa Rica in the 21st century.
Hanna Gabriels
Hanna Gabriels has made women’s boxing history. She is the World Boxing Organization Super Welterweight (154 lbs.) Universal Champion, with several successful title defenses of hers. Her record is 20 fights won, 11 of them by KO, 2 losses and a draw.
And there are still many names left out in all sports disciplines and others will be added in the coming years. @mundiario
