After competing in the Budapest 2023 Athletics World Championship, national race walker César Rodríguez returned to Peru with qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and a new national record in his suitcase. With these achievements, the athlete is now preparing for his next challenge: the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
The race walker, from the Athlete Support Program (PAD) and the Road to Santiago 2023 Program of the Peruvian Institute of Sport (IPD), placed 17th in the 20 km event in Hungary, with a time of 1h 19m 52s, which also served to beat his personal best.
"Thanks to God we achieved the qualification for Paris, which will be my second Olympic Games, and the national record. It was almost five months of training abroad and away from family, but all that effort is paying off. Now I will spend a month with them in Huancayo and it will help me recover physically for Santiago 2023," he said.
The athlete took the opportunity to reveal why he did not participate in the 35 km race at the Budapest World Championship, in which he was also registered.
"I want to arrive in Santiago in good shape and since I couldn't fully recover from the 20 km, I had to make the decision not to participate in the 35 km. In October, I will have a training base in Ecuador and from there I will go to Chile to compete in the Pan American Games," he said.
GOING FOR A TRIUMPHANT DEBUT
Less than two months away from Santiago 2023, Rodríguez feels excited about what will be his debut in the Pan American Games.
"These will be my first Games, I couldn't participate in Lima 2019 because other teammates had better marks, and although it affected me a lot at that time, it made me see that things always happen for a reason and I was able to mature a lot in my sport," he emphasized.
With that confidence, the athlete feels confident about getting on the podium in Chile. "I am improving, in the Tokyo Olympic Games I was in the top 20, in 2022 I entered the top 10 worldwide and that makes me ambitious to, God willing, fight for a medal in the Pan American Games," he said.
"I know I will compete against world-class race walkers, like the Ecuadorian Brian Pintado (silver in the 35 km at the Budapest World Championship) and the Brazilian Caio Bonfim (bronze in the 20 km at the Budapest World Championship), but that makes you improve and see at what level you are," he added.
A third-cycle architecture student at a university in Huancayo, Rodríguez takes advantage of the few free moments he has to learn English, and he thanked his family for being his main pillar in achieving all his goals.