ATHLETICS STADIUM AT VIDENA WELCOMES BEST ATHETES OF AMERICAS

Lima will be the international athletics capital for three days starting tomorrow. It will welcome 383 athletes from 14 countries of the Americas, who will compete in the South American Senior Championships, including renowned players such as Thiago Braz from Brazil, Olympic champion at Rio 2016.

The event will be held in the Athletics Stadium at the VIDENA. This venue was remodeled by the Lima 2019 Organizing Committee for the Pan American and Parapan American Games, which are scheduled to start in only 64 days.

The South American Athletics Championships will be one of the last international competitions, where athletes can obtain the marks necessary to qualify for the Pan American Games. They will have a special incentive: champions will qualify as representatives of the Americas for the World Athletics Championships to be held this year in Doha, Qatar.

“It’s a record for Peru to have such a tournament. This will be the ninth time that the South American Championships are held in Lima. No other city or country has held it so many times and in such a spectacular stadium that puts us on the same level as top host countries in the world,” stated the Secretary General of the South American Athletics Confederation and President of the next championships, Helio Gesta de Melo from Brazil.

The President of the Peruvian Athletics Federation, Gustavo Cárdenas, pointed out during the official presentation that this is the first of many test events. He highlighted the fact that this is a test event to check the operations of the Lima 2019 Organizing Committee, “which has been raising the profile of this championship,” he said.

The South American Athletics Championships will start this Friday at 8:00 and will be divided into five sessions: two on the first day, two on Saturday, and one on Sunday morning. In addition to the Olympic champion Braz, we will welcome the regional champion Robeilys Peinado from Venezuela (pole vault), sprinter Bernardo Baloyes from Colombia (200-meter race), Paola Mautino (long jump), Rina Cjuro (3000-meter with hurdles), and César Rodríguez (race walk) from Peru.

Peru will participate with a delegation of 45 athletes, and you can support them by attending the new Athletics Stadium at the VIDENA. It is free of charge.