JEFFERSON PEREZ His full name is Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada, born in

Cuenca, Ecuador on July 1, 1974. Son of Manuel Jesús Pérez

and María Lucrecia Quezada. Jersinio was the name his mother
wanted to register him with when he was still a baby. However,
this was not accepted in the Civil Registry of Azuay. The
argument was that it did not correspond to the Spanish language.
Faust, his older brother, suggested Jefferson's, although to get
his acceptance he also had to say that he was the son of an
athlete. During his childhood, he spent the same as that of other
neighborhood children, in the midst of economic limitations.
Even his primary studies, which he completed at the Eugenio
Espejo and Gabriel Cevallos schools, then his secondary studies
at the Francisco Febres Cordero School, he had to share with
some tasks to help support his home.

• Career path

Beyond his sporting career, the 1996 Olympic champion has also made efforts in the academic
field, obtaining the title of Commercial Engineer, as well as a Master's Degree in Business
Administration at the University of Azuay. His foray into marching was by chance. It all started
with the rush to prepare for an endurance race, which served as a Physical Education exam,
when he was a second-year student at the Francisco Febres Cordero school. That urgency pushed
him to ask his brother Fabián to give him his position to train for a week with the group of
athletes led by coach Luis Muñoz. Until one morning in April 1988, with some timidity, he
approached La Madre Park, a place that from then on became his preparation headquarters.

His first relevant achievement was the bronze medal at the World Youth Athletics
Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 1990. Two years later he obtained his first consecration
by winning the world junior title in Seoul, Korea. He is the only Ecuadorian to win a gold medal
in the Olympic Games. He also participated, with excellent results, in the Barcelona 1992,
Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. He later won the gold medal in the 20 km walk
at the 2003 Pan American Games held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He achieved a
new world record in the same discipline at the 2003 World Athletics Championships, held in
Paris. His mark remained valid until September 29, 2007, the year in which he was surpassed by
Vladimir Kanaykin.

World Champion in Helsinki 2005 and again world champion in the 20 kilometer walk in Osaka
2007. Considered in his time one of the best athletes in the world in his discipline; He shares
with Robert Korzeniowski the honor of being one of the best walkers in the history of this sport.
He was considered the best Ecuadorian athlete for several years. In

CARLOS ALEJANDRO LAINEZ ZAVALA 2 “A”

 In 2008, the last year of his sports practice, he was awarded as the best Ecuadorian athlete. He is
also rated as the best of all time thanks to his two Olympic medals, the only ones from Ecuador.
They made him a statue in honor of his efforts and work, as he led his country to worldwide
recognition. He dedicates himself to studying and carrying out activities, among others, with his
sports marketing company JP Sport Marketing. He was manager of the First Cuenca Foundation
International Athletic Festival, held on April 19, 2009. On July 26, 2011, at 8:45 p.m., a
documentary called "1:20:07" was premiered on the Teleamazonas channel, in which the story
of his personal and sporting life was told.
• Awards
In 1992 he first consecrated himself by winning the world youth title in Seoul, Korea.

The only Ecuadorian winner of an Olympic gold medal, in the Atlanta 1996 athletic walking
modality.

He was world walking champion in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

• Motivations

This is an interview with the athlete

Jefferson Pérez: "My motto is: never
compete twice with the same
strategy."

Fri, 05/09/2008 - 08:08

Athletics

Sports

The Ecuadorian, Jefferson Pérez,

triple 20 km world champion. march,
revealed today (Friday) that he never
repeats a strategy or sets the same
objectives when facing a season; He
assured that he has found new
motivation in the combative spirit that his young compatriots transmit to him.

"I always renew objectives. My motto is: never compete twice with the same strategy or for the
same reason. It's always different," he declared at the official press conference for the Walking
World Cup, in which he appeared even though he is not going to compete this weekend in
Cheboksary.

His resignation from the World Cup is due to a lack of training derived from the respiratory
problem that affected him at the end of 2007 and that forced him to delay the start of his training
until January, "and that is very little for a World Cup." of the World," he explained.

"After the Osaka World Championships (in which he won his third consecutive 20 km title) I
suffered a respiratory problem and was only able to train from January onwards. Since then I
have had no setbacks, but it is not enough basis for a World Cup. "I prefer not to participate here
and concentrate on the Beijing Games," he said.

CARLOS ALEJANDRO LAINEZ ZAVALA 2 “A”

The Cuenca athlete revealed that the company of his young compatriots has given him renewed
vigor. "I have been lucky enough to meet athletes between 20 and 25 years old with a very great
fighting spirit and they have passed that spirit on to me."

"It is not a question of winning or losing a championship, but of fighting in our nature as human
beings, and now I have the motivation to be a fighter," he said.

Pérez predicted a new world record of 20 km. march, "because everything is good in
Cheboksary: the circuit, great athletes and the support of the public. If the Russians already beat
him in September (Vladimir Kanaykin with 1h17:16), the same thing can happen here."

The Ecuadorian Olympic champion, who prefers to train outside his country to escape the
"overwhelming friendliness" of the Ecuadorian public, lamented that in all of America there is
only one important walking test (in Mexico), "and in those conditions it is difficult to work for
an American walker."

Jefferson Pérez's plans until the Olympic Games include a single competition, the Ibero-
American championship in Iquique (northern Chile), then he will hold a concentration, probably
in Italy, and then he will go to Beijing in search of his second title, twelve years after conquer
the first in Atlanta. EFE

• Conclusions

Well, after everything investigated, you can only feel admiration for a person with such clear
convictions, such a solid sense of struggle and perseverance and, above all, not giving up.

Without a doubt, he is an example to follow beyond his achievements, which are nothing more
than that conviction and materialized goals. He is a person who shows that struggle and
perseverance pay off.

• Bibliography
• https://www.teradeportes.com/node/1648
• https://www.lifeder.com/jefferson-perez/

I attach a documentary to conclude

https://youtu.be/WCmSXJVjyGg

CARLOS ALEJANDRO LAINEZ ZAVALA 2 “A”