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Jefferson Perez

Jefferson Pérez
Jefferson-Perez.jpg
Pérez in action
Personal information
Full name Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada
Nickname(s) jeffi
Born (1974-07-01) July 1, 1974 (age 42)
Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
Alma mater commercial engineer
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight 60 kg (130 lb)
Sport
Country  Ecuador
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Racewalking
Retired September 21, 2008 (age 34)
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals 1996 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics

Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada (born July 1, 1974 in Cuenca) is a retired Ecuadorian race walker. He specialized in the 20 km event, in which he has won the only two medals his country has ever achieved in the Olympic Games.

He won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, becoming the youngest-ever gold medal winner in the 20 km walk event. Following his win he embarked on a 459 km pilgrimage, walking, jogging and running from Quito's Franciscan cathedral to his hometown of Cuenca. In the 2008 Olympics he won the silver medal in the same competition at 34 years of age, before announcing his retirement from the sport.

In the 2003 World Championships in Paris, France, Pérez also set the world best performance (as there are no world records in race walking) with 1:17:21 in the 20 km.

Pérez had fourth-place finishes in the 20 km walk at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Jefferson was born in El Vecino, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Cuenca, to Manuel Jesús Pérez and María Lucrecia Quezada. Like others in his neighborhood, his family was of limited economic means. He attended the elementary schools Eugenio Espejo and Gabriela Cevallos. Afterwards he entered the Francisco Febres Cordero high school, at the same time working to help out his family.

He entered race-walking by accident. To prepare for a walk that served as a high school physical education exam, he asked his brother Fabián to train for one week next to the group of athletes directed by trainer Luis Muñoz. Muñoz decided to invite him to compete in a race. With few weeks of preparation he won the race AID, winning the right of representing Ecuador in New York City and London as a sport ambassador.


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