Tuesday, November 21st, 2023.- For Ecuadorian Marco Antonio Churuchumbi, sport was a vital necessity. He first started with undersized soccer, but the project he set up with his brother Luis did not come to fruition. Then he switched to weightlifting, but that didn't work out either.

After that, he crossed paths with Para athletics and tried javelin and shot put. In this last discipline he found the success he was looking for and in the Parapan American Games Santiago 2023 he has just won the gold medal in the F40-41 class (short stature).

The public that came to the Centro Atlético Mario Recordón of Estadio Nacional witnessed her 9.42 meters, which although it was more than 50 centimeters far from her best mark, it was enough to win the victory.

This is the second major milestone in her sporting experience, after the gold medal at the Grand Prix of Mexico (9.97 meters).

His triumph was added to those of his compatriots Poleth Mendes (shot put F20), Sixto Moreta (5,000 meters T13) and Kiara Rodríguez (long jump T47), which allows Ecuador to reach four gold medals in the first day of Para-athletics.

In second place was the Venezuelan Heriberto Jesús Prieto, who threw the implement at 7.73 meters, while third was the Argentinean Andrés Federico Pinillos, with 7.44 meters.

Prieto was satisfied with his silver medal, although his statements show that he was aiming for more. "We have to keep fighting for the medals I still have to win (he will also compete in the javelin). I couldn't get the gold medal here, as was my goal, but I got the silver medal, so I'm not going home empty," he said.

While the Argentinean pointed out that "the effort had its reward, although I had not set a medal as my goal."

Written by Macarena Navias; translated by Paulette Bertín / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Jonnahan Oyarzún / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport