Yuri Alvear had mixed feelings about her silver medal, coming so close to gold. Photo: Comité Olímpico Colombia.
Colombia didn’t get amongst the medals yesterday, but Day 5 was Yuri Alvear’s day. As John Bartlett writes, there were also some commendable performances from a number of Colombian athletes.
Day 5 belonged to judoka Yuri Alvear, who secured a silver medal having made it all the way to the final in the women’s 70kg Judo competition. Japan’s Haruka Tachimoto – who had never won a major individual medal – won a final that was over rather too quickly.
Having won three World Championship titles and a bronze at London 2012, disappointment was etched on the face of Alvear after Tachimoto had secured a maximum ippon score; she knew that it had been a real chance to notch Colombia’s second gold of the games.
Jossimar Calvo surprised many in the men’s all around individual gymnastics final, securing an impressive 10th place finish. While he never threatened the leaders, the 22-year-old’s score of 88.915 was an excellent achievement – Tokyo 2020 could see him peak at the just the right time.
The Colombian men’s football team came through a fast-paced encounter with Nigeria 2-0 in São Paulo, taking three points that will see them progress to the quarter finals. They will play the winner of Group A, which contains hosts Brazil.
Continuing a rather cruel tradition for Colombians in the weightlifting, Leidy Solis finished in a close fourth place in the women’s 69kg competition. In the men’s 77kg, Andrés Caicedo managed a sixth place finish.
In the men’s individual archery, Andrés Pila lost his match 6-0 to Khairul Anuar Mohamad of Malaysia; while Carolina Aguirre lost to Italy’s Guendalina Sartori by the same scoreline in the women’s event.
Dutch-Colombian Saskia van Erven Garcia lost 15-12 to Aida Mohamed of Egypt in the women’s individual foil, and swimmer Omar Pinzon was two seconds off the pace in his 200m backstroke heat, meaning he didn’t make the semi-finals.
Highlight of the day:
Despite having the potential to win a final that could have gone either way, Yuri Alvear’s silver medal is still a fantastic achievement and a step higher up the podium than four years ago, when she took the bronze medal in London.
One to watch tomorrow:
There is only one Colombian in action tomorrow: windsurfer Santiago Grillo, who sits 25th at the halfway point. In the interest of fostering Latin American relations therefore, the women’s individual all around gymnastics final should be well worth watching. Jessica López of Venezuela – along with home favourites Jade Barbosa and Rebeca Andrade – will be representing the continent. We wish them well!
What’s on tomorrow? (Colombian time)
12.05PM Men’s RS-X windsurfing, Santiago Grillo
By John Bartlett
