August 11, 2024, 2:47 PM
August 11, 2024, 2:47 PM
In Colombia, Olympic wrestling is still known by the surname Rentería. While Jackeline led the way with two bronze medals in Beijing and London, this Sunday it was young Tatiana who climbed to the third place in Paris on the eve of the closing of the Games.
Tatiana Rentería, 23, defeated Ecuadorian Génesis Reasco in the fight for one of the two bronze medals in the 76-kilogram freestyle wrestling category at the Campo de Marte stadium, which also saw medals of the same color from Cuba and Puerto Rico.
In the duel between South Americans, Rentería was the favourite to reach her first Olympic podium after winning another bronze at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade.
The fighter, who as a child was displaced by violence to the Cauca Valley, thus follows in the footsteps of Jackeline Rentería, sports figure from the same region, with whom she does not believe she is related.
Today president of the Vallecaucana Wrestling League, Last year, Jackeline Rentería closed a career in which she placed Colombia on the podium for the first time with bronze medals in Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
“Jackeline is my inspiration, “She means a lot to me because she is an example to follow,” Tatiana Rentería told AFP.
“She accepted my challenge that I would surpass her in the number of medals, “like the color,” he explained. “I’ve already spoken to her and she gave me some very nice words. She believes in me a lot.”
– Example for displaced children –
Rentería’s bronze was Colombia’s fourth medal at the Paris Games after a trio of silver medals from weightlifters Yeison López and Mari Leivis Sánchez and gymnast Ángel Barajas.
As soon as his success was achieved, Rentería recalled that Yeison López and she are examples where the path of sport can lead other children who also had to move due to violence in Colombia.
From a humble coastal area of the department of Chocó (northwest), Rentería left as a child, first to Buenaventura and then to Buga, both in the Valle del Cauca, where she had to financially support her family when she was still in school.
“I had to work hard since I was little“I gave it my all,” recalled Rentería, who began wrestling at the boarding school that took her in.
At the age of 17 she gave birth to a daughter, the “engine” that has pushed her to reach the podium on the Champ de Mars this Sunday, with the Eiffel Tower as a witness.
– Bronzes from Cuba and Puerto Rico –
The other bronze in the 76 kilos category was won this Sunday by another Latin American, Cuban Milaimy Marín.
In his first Games, Marín climbed onto the podium with a spectacular 6-0 victory against Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet, runner-up at the 2023 World Cup.
“It would be great if women’s wrestling could move forward” in Latin America, Marín said as she sat next to Tatiana Rentería at the medalists’ press conference. “Wrestling is still seen as a men’s sport, but this can inspire many Latina women to join in.”
The Cuban wrestling team closed its participation in these GamesWith the historic gold medal of Mijaín López, the fifth in a row of his legendary career, one silver and three bronze.
In the men’s category, Puerto Rican Sebastian Rivera won a hard-fought bronze in the 65 kilos of wrestling thanks to a claim won when his fight against the Mongolian Tulga Tumur Ochir had already expired, who granted him two points to win 10-9.
