With the participation of the Pan-American 100-meter hurdles champion, the Tica Andrea Vargas, the Central American Athletics Championship took place this Monday and Tuesday. The competitions was held at the National Stadium, in La Sabana.
Andrea led the Costa Rican delegation, which was also made up of her sister, the marcher Noelia Vargas, national champion and record holder in 10,000 meters of walking. Along with them, there were 29 more athletes who sought to win for Costa Rica in this particular tournament held during the year of the Pandemic. In fact, the tournament had to be rescheduled and the region’s athletic authorities even considered the possibility of suspending it.
A total of 92 athletes from the seven Central American countries participated
Andrea ran her competition this Tuesday 29, at 2 p.m., and faced two athletes, one from Belize and the other from Honduras. Costa Rica was successful in defending the regional title, which it has won in the last four editions. Having a very strong team, although with some notable absences.
Notable absences
In the foreground, sprinter Nery Brenes, who is not 100% due to an injury to one of her calves, did not run since this would have put her participation in the indoor season at risk. Another outstanding runner, Desireé Bermúdez, was unable to recover and was not be able to compete in her favorite event, the 400 meter dash, in which she holds the Central American record. Finally, one of the main national cards, Juan Diego Castro, was injured in the national championship from a tear and was available for this competition either.
Regional competition underway
As a way to take advantage of the international tournament and due to the shortage of competitions this year, the organizers approved the participation of marchers from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Although the priority was the Central American tournament, having competitors of that caliber greatly helped increase the level of competition for regional athletes.
Noelia Vargas faced prominent competitors from Mexico, including Karla Serrano Olivares and Alegna González Muñoz, U-20 World Marching Champion, who, like Vargas, is classified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. In the male branch, Yeudy Bonilla Álvarez competed for Costa Rica.
