Sport climbing: Andrea Rojas (Ecuador)
Andrea Rojas was unable to achieve her big goal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games: reaching the nominal quota for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. However, the climber won a bronze medal that will end up being historic for her country: it It was Ecuador’s first medal in the 2023 Pan American Games.
The 27-year-old athlete had a complicated start to the competition, which put her on the “difficult” qualification path towards the gold medal and the quota for Paris 2024. These irregularities in the initial ranking forced her to to cross paths. with the big favorite, Emma Hunt, in the semi-final, a case she could not overcome.
In the bronze final, Rojas beat another American, Sophia Curcio, by a time of 7.59 seconds. Gold ultimately went to fellow American Piper Kelly, who won thanks to a false start by Hunt in the deciding duel.
“I’m proud of myself because I know all the efforts I made to be here (…). I had a bad start in qualifying and that made me meet Emma in the semi-final, who is very good. I’m happy to have won bronze but I couldn’t achieve my main goal, which was Paris,” said the Ecuadorian.
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