Jefferson gets off to a good start in world events by winning in Mexico 
MEXICO, 31/03/2006. The Ecuadorian athlete Jefferson Perez started in a big way his route to the World Racing Walking Cup with an exceptional win in the first event of the IAAF Challenge. The event, which was held in Tlanepantia De Baz (Mexico), was scheduled to begin at 9:00 local time, but started one hour late due to problems that occurred in the women's 20k walk. After the problems were solved, the 20k men's race started, in which teams from China, Russia, Ecuador, and the home team of Mexico sought to gain the top places.
In a circuit of 2 kilometers laid out on Sor Juan Ines de la Cruz Avenue, thousands of persons stood watching and rooting for their countrymen as well as the walkers of other countries. The athletes disputed the first places during 10 intense laps of the circuit before reaching the finish line. Nevertheless, as the kilometres passed by, the group of leaders became smaller and smaller, and among them could be seen the Mexicans, the Chinese, and of course, Perez, the Ecuadorian.
By the final meters first place was being disputed between Perez and Sanchez, the Mexican, who finished six seconds behind the winner, leaving third place to Fernando Lopez of Colombia. Thus Jefferson passed the first test of the world calendar for this year, which has as its goal the World Cup at La Coruña, Spain, next May 13th.
With respect to the other Ecuadorian athletes in this event, they were not fortunate and were relegated to secondary places, including Rolando Saquipay, another of the favourites.
After this competition the Ecuadorian team will travel to Cochabamba, Bolivia, to participate in the South American Race Walking Championship next April 8th.
Top ten Men's 20k Walk:
1. Jefferson Perez Ecuador 1:23.17
2. Eder Sanchez Mexico 1:23.24
3. Luis Lopez Colombia 1:24.25
4. Cristian Berdeja Mexico 1:24.58
5. Juan Emilio Toscano Mexico 1:25.53
6. Xavier Moreno Ecuador 1:26.06
7. Daniel Garcia Mexico 1:26.11
8. Han Yucheng China 1:26.28
9. Gabriel Ortiz Mexico 1:27.56
10. Alejandro Rojas Mexico 1:28.22
Photos: Courtesy IAAF and EFE
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