The Chilean Para taekwondo team will travel to Rio de Janeiro this week aiming to obtain the necessary functional classification for the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games and compete in the Open G1 tournament. This event will occur between Wednesday, March 22nd, and Friday, March 24th.
The national team's coach, Javier Bórquez, pointed out the national goals in Rio de Janeiro. "Our first goal is to be eligible and classify as K44 athletes, which is the Paralympic requirement, and the second is to compete and score points for the international ranking, enabling us to be in Santiago 2023."
Functional classification allows grouping Para athletes into specific classes, based on the nature and degree of impairment, to ensure fair competition. In Chile's Parapan American Games, Para taekwondo only has events for the K44 class (for women and men). K44 includes athletes with unilateral arm amputation or loss of toes which impacts the ability to lift the heel properly.
The members of Team Para Chile in Brazil are Raúl Muñoz (+80 kg), Diego Carrillo (-80 kg), and Constanza Fuentes (-65 kg). For all of them, residents of Puente Alto, this will be their first experience competing at an international level. "This will be my debut, and I think it is going to be a unique and very gratifying opportunity. It will allow us to gain the experience we need at this moment”, said Fuentes, the only Para taekwondo female athlete in the country.
As to her emerging sporting trajectory, she mentioned: "One of my friends knows the coach, and I joined the team thanks to her. I have always practiced martial arts. That's why everything has been easier and faster for me.”
Para Taekwondo Team Para Chile at the Centro de Entrenamiento Olímpico in Ñuñoa: Diego Carrillo, Constanza Fuentes, Cristián Arce and coach Javier Bórquez. Only Raúl Muñoz is absent due to an injury (photo: Santiago 2023/Germán Toro).
CRISTIÁN ARCE'S EXPERIENCE: "REPRESENTING CHILE IS WHAT MATTERS THE MOST.”
The seasoned athlete Cristián Arce (41 years old), bronze medalist at the 2022 Pan American Games, didn't join the group on the trip to Rio de Janeiro this time. "I’m already classified, and I have my ranking, so I don't need to go, but my teammates do. We are making a lot of sacrifices, and we are training hard every day to prepare ourselves and represent Chile, which is what matters the most."
Regarding the expectations of the competition in our country, Arce was crystal clear: “The aim is always achieving the best possible result: a gold medal or reaching the podium.”
After participating in the Open this week, the Para taekwondo Team Para Chile athletes will continue training in the technical pre-competition team camp. Leading up to Santiago 2023, the specific Pan American Games will be held in September in Rio de Janeiro to arrive optimally prepared for the Parapan American Games from November 17th to 26th.
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