Ibero-American Championship in Mato Grosso will bring together athletes from 23 countries

The Ibero-American Athletics Championship starts in 11 days, in Cuiabá, with athletes from 23 countries. The competition will be held from May 10th to 12th, on the track at the Olympic Training Center of the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), with free entry. The State government has been preparing since June last year to host the international event held in the Central-West for the first time.

“The number of participants is quite relevant and will certainly boost the sport and the economy of our State. The most important thing is that we are not just going to be a party room, but we will have our athletes competing and also in the points race for places at the Paris Olympic Games”, highlighted the Secretary of Sport, Culture and Leisure of the State, Jefferson Carvalho Neves.

The teams from Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Dominican Republic, São Tomé and Príncipe, Uruguay and Venezuela. Brazil with 90 athletes (45 men and 45 women) will have the largest delegation at the event, followed by Colombia, with 68 athletes, Chile (36), Paraguay (35) and Venezuela (27). From Europe, Spain will bring 30 athletes and Portugal 29.

The Royal Spanish Federation announced that the delegation will be made up of eight national champions: Daniela Fra (400 m hurdles), Una Stancev (high jump), Arantxa Moreno (hammer throw), Miguel Baidal and Ilias Fifa (street race 10 km), Aleix Pi (pole vault), Diego Casas (discus throw) and Nicolás Quijera (javelin throw).

One of the four people from Mato Grosso in the competition is the leader of the Brazilian long jump ranking, Lissandra Maysa Campos, from the municipality of Nossa Senhora do Livramento (38 km from Cuiabá) and beneficiary of Olimpus MT, a scholarship program from the State Secretariat of Culture, Sport and Leisure.

His best mark is 6.69m from last year, a Brazilian and South American record in the under-23 category. “He’s been coming out on top in training. I have always dreamed of the Olympics, ever since I understood what athletics is”, said the jumper who, at a young age, had the experience of going to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023.

Jânio Varjão (Barra do Garças), Wendell Jerônimo (Pontes e Lacerda) and Almir Junior (Peixoto de Azevedo) are the other Mato Grosso natives who make up the team that will represent the country in the competition. Like Lissandra, Jânio and Wendell are Olimpus MT scholarship holders.

In addition to local and foreign athletes, Cuiabá will welcome competitors from all over Brazil. In this 20th edition of the tournament, the delegations will also have coaches, members of multidisciplinary committees and directors, totaling 646 people.