The president of the Ecuadorian Olympic Committee (COE), Augusto Morán Nuques, and the mayor of the Japanese city of Kitami, Naotaka Tsuji, signed an agreement for the Ecuadorian race walking team, qualified for the Olympic Games, to hold a training camp in the Japanese city before competing in Tokyo 2020.
The race walking team could be one of the largest within Team Ecuador in Tokyo 2020. So far, Daniel Pintado, Glenda Morejón, and Karla Jaramillo have qualified in the 20 km race walk; and Andrés Chocho in the 20 and 50 km race walks; while other athletes within the ranking are seeking the Olympic mark, such as Claudio Villanueva (50 km), David Hurtado, Mauricio Arteaga, Paola Pérez (20 km), among others.
Kitami will also host the long-distance runners, where so far Ecuador has the only qualifier in the marathon, Paola Bonilla from Cuenca.
The signing of the agreement was made through a virtual connection. In the meeting, the treasurer of the COE, Miguel Nácer, and from Kotoba Internacional, sponsor of the program, its president, Atsushi Tsubota, and the director, Shigeo Maekawa, also participated.
The agreement includes a pre-camp for the Ecuadorian race walking team qualified for the Olympic Games, prior to their participation in the ecumenical event, whose 20 and 50 kilometer races will be held at Odori Park in Sapporo (Hokkaido) on August 5 and 6, respectively.
The city of Kitami will offer facilities and a suitable environment for the training of the Ecuadorian race walkers as part of a cultural and sports exchange program. In principle, the concentration is scheduled from July 25 to August 1, days before the official competition.
"I would like to extend our gratitude to the president of the COE. We are very happy to have signed the agreement with the Ecuadorian race walking team for the pre-competition camp at the Tokyo Olympic Games," said Tsuji.
"Our city is located in northern Japan and is abundant in mountains and sea. It is a region rich in nature, where you can feel the beauty of the four seasons. Kitami is 13,000 kilometers from Ecuador, but now our feelings are linked. We will welcome the Ecuadorian athletes with great hospitality and do our best to support them," the mayor added.
Morán thanked Kitami for opening its doors to the national athletes. "I want to congratulate and thank the mayor, Naotaka Tsuji, for signing the agreement with the COE. It is very gratifying for our country to have Kitami as the host city to accommodate and house our athletes in the long-distance and race walking sports, in which Ecuador has great competitors at the global level," said the director.
"Mr. Mayor, please thank the people of Kitami for the warm welcome we know they will give to all its inhabitants, and we will be there, if conditions allow, for a preseason training camp days before the race walking and marathon competitions in Japan. From now on, a piece of Kitami is here, in the heart of Ecuador, this is your home, we hope this is the beginning of a very close bond between the city of Kitami and the Olympic Movement of Ecuador, thank you very much for your collaboration," Morán concluded. (D)
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