Jefferson Perez Ecuador's National Hero 
Ecuador, 18/08/2008. Jefferson Perez is the best Ecuadorian athlete of all time, and he proved it yesterday with a silver medal in the Olympic Games in China, which we add to a gold medal in Atlanta in 1996 and two fourth places in the Games. In addition he has won ten world titles, making him an Ecuadorian national hero.
All of Ecuador resounded to the triumph of the athlete from Cuenca.
With his achievement, the country experienced an aftershock of joy, whose epicenter was Cuenca, Jefferson’s birthplace, where his family and admirers celebrated into the early hours of this morning.
With the simplicity that characterizes him, Perez gave thanks to God for the result, which he considered was an important one, given the limitations that Ecuadorian athletes have. A short time after the race ended, he became faint and passed out for more than five minutes, which caused widespread alarm among the Ecuadorian delegation. Tyrone Flores, the doctor who attended him, said it was the result of fatigue and dehydration.
Triumph in Beijing
In his last race before retirement, the mythical race walker performed another feat, second place at Beijing 2008.
His walk led him directly to becoming a legend. With a new Olympic medal at Beijing, he confirmed that he is the greatest Ecuadorian athlete of all time.
In the course of those 20 kilometers, Jefferson Perez Quezada demonstrated that since 12 years ago he has been one of the best race walkers on the planet, belonging to the elite, always among the giants of the event.
In a race won by Russian race walker Valeriy Borchin, Perez yesterday captured the silver medal in the 20 km event at the Beijing Olympics, increasing his legend in his farewell to competition.
Borchin won in a time of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 1 second, followed by Perez 14 seconds behind (1h19m15s), with the bronze medal going to the Australian, Jared Tallent (1h19m 42s).
At age 34, in the race that he had announced would be his farewell to track, Perez added a new international win to his list of distinguished triumphs, having been Olympic champion at Atlanta 96 and gold medalist at the world championships of Paris 2003, Helsinki 2005 and Osaka 2007.
After passing the 15 km mark, Borchin and Perez separated from the lead group, which included, among others, the Spaniard, Paquillo Fernandez and the Italian, Ivano Brugnetti. Borchin, second place at the European Championship of 2006, established a pace that Jefferson was unable to follow, forcing him to drop behind just two kilometers from the finish line.
The 22-year-old Borchin, suspended a year for doping in 2005, had the year’s third best time (1h17m55s).
This is the second international silver medal for Jefferson Perez, having also placed second at the world championship at Sevilla in 1999.
The race walker from Cuenca had to receive medical attention when he arrived at the tunnel leading to the changing rooms of Beijing stadium, where he was initially carried by stretcher due to a “muscle cramp,” according to Luis Zambrano, technical director of the Ecuadorian squad.
After being checked, Perez got up from the stretcher, appeared before the press for another 10 minutes, then due to fatigue, preferred not to make many statements.
Jefferson said that he became faint upon feeling a pain in his back. In a joking tone he added, “It was from talking too much; I hope you understand.
The mythical Ecuadorian sportsman also referred with feeling to his farewell to the Olympics. “It’s my second Olympic medal, and I thank God for having permitted me to be in five Olympic Games.
For his part, one of the favorites, Paquillo Fernandez of Spain, had to be content with his seventh place (1h20m32s) and may have lost his last opportunity to be Olympic champion.
Another of the favorites, Eder Sanchez of Mexico, finished the race in 15th place with a time of 1h21m53s.
Source: periodistadigital.com
|
