Jefferson Perez of Ecuador celebrates winning the 20km world race walking cup (© Getty Images)
At the age of 31, and with all the possible athletics honors under his belt, Ecuadorian race-walker Jefferson Pérez is preparing for another athletics season, the eighteenth of his international career with the objective of winning the 2006 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, which will take in the Spanish city of La Coruña, on 13-14 May.
Since he emerged onto the world scene when winning the 20Km at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, which today is still the only Olympic medal obtained by Ecuador, Pérez has been the most prominent athlete of South America. After Atlanta glory, other victories followed, such as the 2003 and 2005 IAAF World Championships, the 1997, 2002 and 2004 IAAF World Cup, and the 2003 Pan-American Games (which also won in 1995). All that topped with the current World record of 1:17:21.
Still, Pérez, who now is one of the most popular characters in his country, finds enough motivation to set new goals on and off the track, or the roads, as it should be in his case…
A national hero
All the honours earned by Jefferson have given him great recognition beyond athletics in his country, even to the extent of making him a true national hero.
In November of 2005, his native city of Cuenca unveiled a statue in his honour in the main park, “Parque de la Madre”, remembering his victory in Atlanta, with the the vice-president of Ecuador, Alejandro Serrano in attendance at the ceremony.
Also, the “Banco Central del Ecuador” is to introduce 300 commemorative gold -90% gold and 10% copper- and 10,000 nickel-copper coins in April, to celebrate his glorious moment in Atlanta. Those coins shall have the value of 1 Bolívar, and one side will show Pérez’s image and a brief text “Bicampeón Mundial – Campeón Olímpico Atlanta”, which translates to “2 times World Champion – Atlanta Olympic Champion”.
All that hoopla has not sidetracked Jefferson at all. Perhaps, the only change is reflected in his competitive calendar, which is somehow lighter than it used to be.
“The reason for that is that I’m trying to complete my master’s degree in business administration, which I want to have done by July or August”, said Pérez.
Slight changes to the preparation
“My training is going very well here in Ecuador”, added Jefferson speaking from his home in Cuenca. “Our group, which includes Rolando Saquipay, Segundo Peñafiel and several junior athletes is in very good shape, though comparing it with the 2005 season, this one is slightly different. The main reason is that our goal this time – the World Cup – is in May, while last year was in August (the 2005 World Championships). The rest will be pretty similar to what we did last year”.
“I’m pretty sure that my first competition of the season will by in Mexico, at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge in Tlanepantla, even tough I have received invitations for Portugal and China. Happens that because of my studies I can’t take long trips, and that is why I will perhaps compete in Mexico. It’s much closer”.
“I might engage in other regional events, but this would be the only one we will insert into the preparation as a test. Then, in April we shall begin the final phase of our work.”
“We are still not sure about the place… Last year we worked well in Arequipa, Perú, and we chose that city because it had altitude and some similarities with Helsinki.”
“La Coruña is a bit warmer, and perhaps more humid, so we might go to a different place in Perú, or perhaps to México. Maybe to Querétaro or Puebla. We shall make that decision soon”.
“Here in Ecuador we have great venues, but sometimes it’s better to be in a quieter place. If I stay here, I know I will have more distractions, and I want to avoid that. My goal is to win my fourth World Cup in La Coruña, and to lead Ecuador to a good place in the team competition, to perhaps improve our second from Naumburg 2004”, ended the World champion.
Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF
