Jefferson Pérez facts for kids

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Jefferson Pérez

Pérez in action in 2008
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Jeffi
Born	(1974-07-01) 1 July 1974 (age 50) Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
Alma mater	University of Azuay
Height	1.67 m
Weight	60 kg
Sport
Country	Ecuador
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Racewalking
Retired	21 September 2008 (age 34)
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	1996 Summer Olympics 2000 Summer Olympics 2004 Summer Olympics 2008 Summer Olympics
Medal record Men's Racewalking Representing  Ecuador Olympic Games Gold 1996 Atlanta 20 km walk Silver 2008 Beijing 20 km walk World Championships Gold 2003 Paris 20 km walk Gold 2005 Helsinki 20 km walk Gold 2007 Osaka 20 km walk Silver 1999 Seville 20 km walk Pan American Games Gold 1995 Mar del Plata 20 km walk Gold 2003 Santo Domingo 20 km walk Gold 2007 Rio de Janeiro 20 km walk Bronze 1999 Winnepeg 20 km walk South American Games Gold 1998 Cuenca 20 km walk Bolivarian Games Gold 1993 Cochabamba 20 km walk Gold 1997 Arequipa 20 km walk Gold 2001 Ambato 20 km walk Silver 2005 Armenia 20 km walk World Junior Championships Gold 1992 Seoul 10,000 m walk Bronze 1990 Plovdiv 10,000 m walk South American Youth Championships Gold 1988 Cuenca 5 km walk Gold 1990 Lima 5 km walk

Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada (born 1 July 1974) is an Ecuadorian retired race walker. He specialised in the 20 km event, in which he won the first two medals his country achieved in the Olympic Games.

Early life

Pérez 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 graduated in Business Engineering and later obtained an MBA (Master in Business Administration) from the University of Azuay in Ecuador.

Career

Pérez 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.

Initially he participated in distance competitions of six kilometers. Later he had to make a radical decision, which was to dedicate himself completely to race walking. His first regional trophy in the 5 km walk during the South American Pre-Junior championship held in his native city of Cuenca.

His first international achievement occurred when he won the bronze medal in the Junior World Cup of Athletics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 1990.

Two years later, he won the Junior World title in Seoul, Korea, followed shortly by victories in South American and Pan-American open competitions.

Olympic Games

Pérez won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, becoming the youngest ever Olympic race walk champion. Following his win he embarked on a 459 km (285 mi) pilgrimage, walking, jogging and running from Quito's Franciscan cathedral to his hometown of Cuenca.

He won a silver medal, his second medal, at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He had fourth-place finishes in the 20 km walk at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Jefferson with the Ecuadorian flag.

World Championships

Pérez won a silver medal at the 1999 World Championships in Seville.

He then won three consecutive gold medals from 2003 to 2007 at the World Championships in Paris, Helsinki, and Osaka, the only person that has been able to achieve this feat.

Pérez's winning time of 1:17:21 in 2003 became the first official world record for the 20 km walk when standards for road events were recognised from 2004 onwards and he received a financial bonus.

Retirement

Pérez walked his final race at the World Race Walking Challenge final in Murcia, Spain. He finished third in that race and second in the overall challenge standings.

He announced his retirement from the sport in 2008.

Personal bests

Event	Result	Venue	Date
Road walk
10 km	38:24 min	Kraków	8 June 2002
20 km	1:17:21 hrs	Paris Saint-Denis	23 August 2003
50 km	3:53:04 hrs	Athens	27 August 2004
Track walk
10,000 m	38:37.6 min (ht)	Bergen	9 May 1998
20,000 m	1:20:54.9 hrs (ht)	Cali	5 July 2008

International competitions

Representing  Ecuador

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Result
1988	South American Youth Championships	Cuenca, Ecuador	1st	5 km	24:44.4 A
1989	South American Junior Championships	Montevideo, Uruguay	1st	10,000 m	45:03.71
1990	South American Junior Championships	Bogotá, Colombia	1st	10,000 m	42:57.95 A
	World Junior Championships	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	3rd	10,000 m	40:08.23
	South American Race Walking Cup (U20)	Guayaquil, Ecuador	1st	10 km	44:31.9
	South American Youth Championships	Lima, Peru	1st	5 km	19:49.54
1991	World Indoor Championships	Sevilla, Spain	10th	5000 m	20:20.05
	South American Junior Championships	Asunción, Paraguay	1st	10,000 m	43:10.1
	South American Championships	Manaus, Brazil	–	20 km	DQ
	Pan American Junior Championships	Kingston, Jamaica	2nd	10,000 m	44:06.11
	South American Race Walking Cup (U20)	Bogotá, Colombia	1st	10 km	42:48.6 A
1992	Ibero-American Championships	Seville, Spain	3rd	20 km	1:25:50.5
	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	—	20 km	DNF
	South American Junior Championships	Lima, Peru	1st	10,000 m	45:31.2
	World Junior Championships	Seoul, South Korea	1st	10,000 m	40:42.66
	South American Race Walking Cup (U20)	São Paulo, Brazil	1st	10 km	45:39
1993	Bolivarian Games	Cochabamba, Bolivia	1st	20 km	1:26:19 A
	South American Junior Championships	Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela	1st	10,000 m	42:24.2
	South American Championships	Lima, Peru	1st	20 km	1:24:31
	Pan American Junior Championships	Winnipeg, Canada	1st	10,000 m	39:50.73
1994	South American Race Walking Cup	Sucre, Bolivia	1st	20 km	1:30:04 A
	Pan American Race Walking Cup	Atlanta, Georgia, United States	3rd	20 km	1:24:34
	Ibero-American Championships	Mar del Plata, Argentina	5th	20 km	1:26:08.2
1995	South American Race Walking Cup	Cuenca, Ecuador	1st	20 km	1:27:46 A
	Pan American Games	Mar del Plata, Argentina	1st	20 km	1:22:53
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	33rd	20 km	1:34:20
1996	South American Race Walking Cup	São Paulo, Brazil	1st	20 km	1:25:33
	Olympic Games	Atlanta, Georgia, United States	1st	20 km	1:20:07
1997	South American Race Walking Cup	Bogotá, Colombia	1st	20 km	1:26:19 A
	World Race Walking Cup	Poděbrady, Czech Republic	1st	20 km	1:18:24
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	14th	20 km	1:24:46
	Bolivarian Games	Arequipa, Peru	1st	20 km	1:27:54 A
1998	South American Race Walking Cup	Bogotá, Colombia	1st	20 km	1:22:53 A
	Pan American Race Walking Cup	Miami, Florida, United States	—	50 km	DNF
	Goodwill Games	Uniondale, New York, United States	3rd	20,000 m	1:29:18.4
	South American Games	Cuenca, Ecuador	1st	20 km	1:23:11 A
1999	World Race Walking Cup	Mézidon-Canon, France	—	50 km	DNF
	Pan American Games	Winnipeg, Canada	3rd	20 km	1:20:46
	World Championships	Seville, Spain	2nd	20 km	1:24:19
2000	South American Race Walking Cup	Lima, Peru	1st	20 km	1:30:50
	Pan American Race Walking Cup	Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico	3rd	20 km	1:24.36
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	4th	20 km	1:20:18
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	8th	20 km	1:22:20
	Universiade	Beijing, China	5th	20 km	1:26:11
	Bolivarian Games	Ambato, Ecuador	1st	20 km	1:30:27 A
	South American Race Walking Cup	Cuenca, Ecuador	1st	20 km	1:26:21 A
	Pan American Race Walking Cup		2nd
	South American Race Walking Cup		1st	Team	10 pts
	Pan American Race Walking Cup		2nd		21 pts
2002	World Race Walking Cup	Turin, Italy	1st	20 km	1:21:26
			4th	Team	61 pts
	South American Race Walking Cup	Puerto Saavedra, Chile	—	20 km	DNF
	Ibero-American Championships	Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala	1st	20,000 m	1:23:51 A
2003	Pan American Race Walking Cup	Chula Vista, California, United States	1st	20 km	1:23:12
			2nd	Team	13 pts
	Pan American Games	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	1st	20 km	1:23:06
	World Championships	Paris Saint-Denis, France	1st	20 km	1:17:21
2004	World Race Walking Cup	Naumburg, Germany	1st	20 km	1:18:42
			2nd	Team	35 pts
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	4th	20 km	1:20:38
			12th	50 km	3:53:04
2005	South American Championships	Cali, Colombia	1st	20 km	1:22:54 A
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	1st	20 km	1:18:35
	Bolivarian Games	Armenia, Colombia	2nd	20 km	1:24:22 hrs A
2006	South American Race Walking Championships	Cochabamba, Bolivia	1st	20 km	1:26:27 A
			2nd	Team	12 pts
	World Race Walking Cup	A Coruña, Spain	2nd	20 km	1:19:08
			7th	Team	68 pts
2007	Pan American Race Walking Cup	Balneário Camboriú, Brazil	1st	20 km	1:25:08
	Pan American Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	1st	20 km	1:22.08
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	1st	20 km	1:22:20
2008	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Cali, Colombia	1st	20,000 m	1:20:54.9 A
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	2nd	20 km	1:19:15

See also

In Spanish: Jefferson Pérez para niños