The sporting event hosted by Lima 2019 for more than two weeks still lingers in our memory and undoubtedly the ones that remember it more fondly are the athletes that qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after their victories at the Pan American Games.
Many images will remain in our memory, since that July 24, when the eighteenth edition of the Pan American Games started in the beach volleyball courts of Costa Verde San Miguel. The 6680 athletes that visited Lima 2019 left us beautiful moments of triumph and defeat that will forever carved in the memory of each person that had the chance of being part of this sport celebration of the Americas.
It was a short but meaningful conversation. The American bronze medal winner of the team jumping event, Eve Jobs, Steve Jobs’ daughter, talked to the volunteers of the Army Equestrian School in la Molina. She thanked them all for their support to competitors.
Easy going, Jobs took pictures with this group of young volunteers who wanted a memento of the event. They got around the security staff that accompanies her in these Pan American Games and took the pictures that she shared in her social media, showing the exciting experience of the Games in our capital city.
Jorge Farfán (20), volunteer and student of communication sciences, said that they hesitated at first to approach the athlete, because of her security. Then, he said that they relaxed a bit, and talked to her. Eve Jobs was really easy going and was took her time to share with them.
As an anecdote, he said that the day he was chosen as a volunteer he didn’t know what equestrian sports were about. A few minutes earlier, a message was sent to his e-mail confirming he was chosen as a volunteer for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games and assigned to this competition.
In March 2019 he could not imagine that five months later, at the team jumping event, he would be talking to Eve Jobs, the daughter Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple. Beside this experience, Jorge highlighted that the organization has considered every detail to successfully deliver the most important multi-sport event of the region.
He has muscular sclerosis, an irreversible condition, a disease that blocks the orders that go from the brain to the muscles and makes him unable to walk. To move around, he uses an electric wheelchair, which allows him independently to undertake his daily tasks.
“That is what I think is the most important, because if the Organizing Committee had not thought about delivering inclusive Pan American Games, where people with impairments could be part of this unique event in the country, I would not be here. There are wheelchair accesses, special areas at each of the competition venues for people with impairments. These actions are a way of telling us that we are belong, that we can do things and that we are important,” he said.
The Pan American Games, as Jorge says, are not just the most important multi-sport event of the Americas, but the organization managed to include all Peruvians, without distinction, because we are all hosts. Let's all play!
As if the direct qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was not attractive enough for Equestrian sports in Lima 2019, American Eve Jobs, daughter of Apple’s visionary co-founder Steve Jobs, made her debut this morning. The audience at the Army Equitation School applauded her performance, which clocked a time of 71.16s in the speed test.
The 21-year-old rider participates in the individual and team jumping competition. The first round of this competition finished this morning in La Molina. Eve Jobs ranked seventh and helped the United States lead the team competition. She continues her participation tomorrow with two more qualifying rounds.
Her compatriot Elizabeth Madden rode her Breitling horse in 68.82s and leads the individual ranking. It is worth mentioning the equestrian course in La Molina, praised by competitors as the horses performed tests with comfort and were able to set good times when jumping over obstacles.
“We must congratulate the Lima 2019 Pan American Games Organizing Committee because they have done an amazing job. This is a top-level equestrian venue, in fact, one of the best in which I have competed. The course and stables are in optimal conditions and this is important for horses. Quattro (his horse) is happy and that’s great because if they are not well, we cannot compete successfully,” said Bolivian rider Daniel Bedoya.
Also, Brazilian Eduardo Menezes (fifth in the qualification) thanked for the facilities provided by Lima 2019. “It’s the best Equestrian venue I’ve ever competed at. Everything is top-class for riders and especially for the horses so they get relaxed before the competition,” he said.
Spectacular jumps and obstacles in the water and ring were performed at the equestrian sports venue in La Molina, where many families gathered to see the best athlete/horse combinations in the continent in the eventing individual (cross-country) and team competitions.
This venue had moments of excitement and tension when the Colombian rider Mauricio Bermúdez fell into the “Titicaca Lake” water obstacle in the cross-country ring.
The Peruvian combination delivered an excellent performance in the ring, and three of four riders qualified. They are Diego Farje with Qouter; Marcelino Cárdenas with Vento, and Juan José Luis Francia with Alpacino Z.
In the team event, the Peruvian representatives also qualified together with the United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico. The international competition continues tomorrow starting at 10:00 with the eventing individual (jump finals) and team (jumping qualifier) competitions, where medalists will be determined.
The Army Equestrian School has an eventing circuit (cross-country), with 4600 m of new grass.
Besides, the main stage for jumping and dressage: three tracks for competition, warm-up and training, made of silica sand, with a total of 19,500 m2, built according to the standards and requirements of the International Equestrian Federation.
To get more information about the competition schedule and results, you can visit the website: https://www.lima2019.pe/resultados.
Peruvian rider Alonso Valdez Prado, was also appointed as a Lima 2019 Medalist Ambassador. Throughout his career, we can distinguish three stages.
The first stage was when he became three-time children champion (1990, 1991 and 1992) and youth champion (2001 - 2002 - 2003) during three consecutive years.
In the second stage, he met success again and reconnected with sports in 2012 by participating in many competitions around the world. Valdez classified to the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France; the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, where he had an outstanding performance that allowed him to qualify to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.