Belizean Athletes Excel At Pan American Games
The nineteenth edition of the Pan American Games was held in Chile from October twentieth to November fifth. It is considered the most important event of the Americas because it featured more than six thousand of the best athletes of the continent competing across thirty-eight sporting disciplines. Belizean athletes participated, including several from the Belize Canoe Association. We met with them at the PGIA as they returned to the country this afternoon. News Five’s Hipolito Novelo reports.
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
The Belize Canoe Association was represented at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Diana Velasquez and Avis Guydis competed in the Final B in the K1 500m and the Final B in the K2 500m last week. They returned to the country this afternoon, and we met them at the Philip Goldson International Airport.
Avis Guydis
Avis Guydis, Athlete, Belize Canoe Association
“For me, we did great. We had a bit of a disadvantage because we’re just growing in the sports. So, we have K 1s in the country which Diana and myself would train in, but for a K 2 it is very hard to transition from being alone to being with somebody else. So that was a bit of a challenge, simply because we didn’t have a K2 before we left. But thanks to the Canoe Association who got in two of those K2s on the same day we left. So that now gives us a better advantage when we go out to the next games. We can train together and we’ll definitely do much, much better, but I’m proud of myself and Diana as well.”
Diana Velasquez
Diana Velasquez, Athlete, Belize Canoe Association
“We did what we could have done there. One of the main thing was not to flip over because by flipping over it would make you be disqualified totally out of the competition. So we tried to as much as we could move fast and also to keep in and maintain our balance. With having K1 and K2 in country now, that gives us an advantage that whoever will be going out or if we are going out, we can prepare ourselves and train in it. That will put us in a better position to even qualify or medal, whatever we train to, we can make it and get it there.”
Amado Cruz competed in the Final B in the K1 1000m. He ranked ninth in the Americas.
Amado Cruz
Amado Cruz, Athlete, Belize Canoe Association
“Every time the competition is always the same, it’s hard and this one was just as hard as the others I’ve done, and I just missed the final A by like Penner said, a hundredth of a second and which that really, now I know that I’ve, all of my training had paid off and I’m happy that I got to this level now.”
Hipolito Novelo
“And what goes through your mind when you’re in that canoe, peddling in the race?”
Amado Cruz
“Well, you’re in so much pain that you just want to go through across the finish line, but at the same time, you still want to do good and try to be ahead of as much kayaks as you can.”
President of the Belize Canoe Association, Elvin Penner, says that this time around, the athletes performed better than they did in past competitions.
Elvin Penner
Elvin Penner, President, Belize Canoe Association
“It was really a great achievement this time. It really showed that the training that especially Amado has put in internationally really paid off. The first time we almost made it into the medal round, we missed it by one-one hundredth of a second, where I actually went to the officials and looked at the photo finish, and indeed Cuba beat us, I think it was Cuba, by a few millimeters, where, but we came back and although they were in the final A and we were in the final B, Amado still beat his time in the finals. So Amado did really, really well. And of course, the female did very well as well in terms of ranking tenth in the K2 and sixteenth in the K1 500 meters in the whole Americas. Well, Amado rated or, or he’s ranked ninth right now, but the exciting thing was he actually won that race and beat seven other athletes on the course.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.
