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Ecuador to compete at South American Games without race-walking stars Daniel Pintado and Paula Torres
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Sports

Ecuador to compete at South American Games without race-walking stars Daniel Pintado and Paula Torres

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Context piece
  • Ecuador will send 182 athletes across 29 sports to the South American Games in Santa Fe, Argentina, but injuries will keep Olympic champion Daniel Pintado and world champion Paula Torres out of the competition.
  • The delegation is 37 athletes smaller than Ecuador’s team at the 2022 South American Games, after the country decided to participate only three weeks before the event.
  • Ecuador’s team will be led by Olympic champions Neisi Dajomes and experienced medalists including Lucía Yépez and Angie Palacios.

Ecuador will arrive at the South American Games in Santa Fe without two of its leading race walkers. Olympic champion Daniel Pintado and world champion Paula Torres will miss the competition because of injuries, according to Ecuadorian Olympic Committee president Jefferson Pérez.

The country will nevertheless send 182 athletes across 29 sports. Pérez, an Olympic champion at Atlanta 1996 and silver medalist at Beijing 2008, said Ecuador had not been expected to participate until only three weeks before the Games. National sports federations and the Olympic committee then assembled the delegation and secured places for the athletes.

Three weeks ago Ecuador was not going to participate.

— Jefferson PérezThe Ecuadorian Olympic Committee president described how late the country’s decision to enter the Games was.

“Three weeks ago Ecuador was not going to participate,” Pérez told EFE. “So with that, we are already winning.” He also lamented the absences of Pintado, Torres and other athletes unable to compete for various reasons.

Ecuador’s delegation will be smaller than the 219 athletes it sent to Asunción in 2022. Pérez attributed the loss of 37 athletes partly to the limited time available to resolve logistical issues. He asked the public to view each competitor “as the human beings they are” and to consider that Ecuador made its decision to participate only three weeks before the event.

So with that, we are already winning.

— Jefferson PérezPérez referred to Ecuador’s success in assembling a delegation despite the short preparation period.

The participation dispute followed a conflict over the leadership of the Ecuadorian Olympic Committee. Jorge Delgado, re-elected president in 2025, was not recognized by the government, which temporarily intervened in the committee. Delgado later resigned, allowing Pérez, who had been vice president, to take over and begin organizing the team.

Weightlifter Neisi Dajomes, Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020, will lead the delegation alongside wrestler Lucía Yépez, a Paris 2024 silver medalist, and weightlifter Angie Palacios, who won bronze in Paris. Ecuador will compete in sports including athletics, boxing, cycling, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, surfing, taekwondo, archery, triathlon, sailing and beach volleyball.

as the human beings they are

— Jefferson PérezPérez asked the public to consider the athletes’ circumstances and the late decision to participate.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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