Ecuador Heads to South American Games Without Two Stars but With Key Figures Confirmed

Ecuador will arrive at the Santa Fe South American Games with a 182-member delegation, but two of its biggest names will be absent. Paris 2024 Olympic champion Daniel Pintado and world race-walking champion Paula Torres will miss the competition because of injuries.

Jefferson Pérez, president of the Ecuadorian Olympic Committee, said the country had not expected to participate until three weeks before the Games began. He credited the sports federations and the Olympic body with assembling the delegation in time, while lamenting the loss of Pintado, Torres and other athletes who cannot compete for various reasons.

The delegation is smaller than Ecuador’s team at the 2022 South American Games in Asunción, where 219 athletes took part. The difference of 37 athletes was partly attributed to the limited time available to resolve logistical issues.

Ecuador will nevertheless send a group led by athletes with Olympic experience. The delegation includes Neisi Dajomes, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion; Lucía Yépez, the Paris 2024 Olympic runner-up; and Angie Palacios, who won a bronze medal in weightlifting in Paris.

The Games will run from Sept. 12 to 26, 2026. Ecuador will compete in 29 disciplines, including athletics, boxing, cycling, artistic gymnastics, judo, karate, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, surfing, taekwondo, table tennis, archery, triathlon, sailing and beach volleyball.

Ecuador’s participation follows a crisis at the Olympic committee. Jorge Delgado, who was re-elected president in 2025, was not recognized by the government, which temporarily intervened in the organization. After Delgado resigned, Pérez took over and arranged Ecuador’s participation in Argentina.

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Three weeks ago Ecuador was not going to participate.