Ana Isabel Toledo at the World Cup in Switzerland. Photo: WOC 2023
The Motillana counselor Ana Isabel Toledo continues to take giant steps without losing a second – just like in her training sessions – on track. After a great time in the World Cup, the young woman has been selected for the Absolute European O-Pie Championship that will take place from October 3 to 8 in Trentino -Italy-. After this experience, she will try to excel again at the national event.
Ana’s story begins in Motilla del Palancar, when at the town festivals, encouraged by the different activities, she tried orienteering without suspecting at the time that it would end up being a fundamental part of her life. Little by little she began to go to some competitions, and it is clear that she had a good eye, since today she is a very successful athlete at the national level. Of course, it seems to be in her blood, since her sister Patricia started alongside her and today is also another fixture in the lower categories of the Spanish Orienteering Team.
The move to Madrid due to his parents’ work did not stop his desire to continue competing, and in fact he now does so with the High Performance Center, where he combines his training – twice a day – with his studies.
Despite all the facilities available in the capital, the province of Cuenca also qualifies as an unparalleled enclave for its discipline. “La Serranía is one of the best places in Spain to train orienteering,” says Ana, who usually escapes for about a week a year to train in the Beteta area and the center of La Serranía, where she has very good routes and maps to follow. to complete.
Ana Isabel won gold in the 2022 Spanish Championships: long distance, medium, sprint, classic relay and mixed relay
FIXED IN THE SELECTION
The Motillana faces an exciting moment of the season: the European Championship for which she has been called up by the senior team. As there is no under 23 category, the young woman competes against quite experienced athletes.
She explains that she is “very excited”, since it is the sprint modality, her strong point. Unlike the forest variant – a natural environment – the sprint takes place in an urban environment over short distances of 10 to 15 minutes, so it is quite explosive. In the World Cup that she played this summer in Switzerland she finished with a fifth place, this being the best record of the national team. “We are quite motivated to see if we can repeat or improve the position,” Toledo conveys.
On an individual level, he hopes to be able to sneak into one of the finals and do well there. In sprint there will be 40 ¬¬–of the 150 participants¬– who will reach that final phase, while in the new knockout modality –in which they are eliminated little by little as the rounds go by– there will be only 6.” It is quite difficult, but we must not lose hope,” the woman from Cuenca energetically declares.
With almost no time to rest, after the European Championship he will have the Spanish Championship – in El Hoyo de Pinares, Ávila – in which he will try to revalidate an overwhelming record, since last year he won all the golds possible in the absolute category: long distance , half, sprint, classic relays and mixed relays. “This year I want to repeat, but it is never easy,” he says.
Recently recognized due to her nomination for best athlete in the awards of the Association of Sports Clubs of Cuenca, the ACDC, which she considers a great honor as her discipline and effort are recognized, she will not be able to attend the gala, but her absence is more than justified: it will be carrying the name of Cuenca throughout Europe and, wait, to the top.
2023-10-03 14:45:40
#Motilla #compass #conquest #Italy
