In a day marked by intense physical activity and athletic excellence throughout the city of Valparaíso, our University managed to take first place in three interuniversity championships managed by the National University Sports Federation (FENAUDE), held recently.
On this occasion, the male and female teams representing our university in the disciplines of athletics, table tennis and karate successfully competed for gold in their respective sports during the tournaments held at the Elías Figueroa Stadium, the USM Central House and the UPLA gymnasium, respectively.
Led by coach Leonardo Fernández, the PUCV athletes demonstrated high effort and skill, managing to obtain the gold medal in events such as the javelin throw, long jump and the 1500 meter race, this being represented by the national team Gastón González, who will participate in the South American Under-20 Athletics Championship in Lima, an event to be held between July 20 and 21 of this year.
“These results are the product of a years-long process, where students believe in the University, the coach and the sports project, which leads them to develop competitively after their school years and motivates them to continue training and studying,” added the coach Fernández, who congratulated the young people for their commitment and effort, both sporting and academic.
“Everyone wants to be a good supporter for the team, we are always supporting those who are competing or warming up from the stands. There has always been good chemistry between us, which has given us excellent results in recent years,” Luis Riffo, captain of the athletics team, also reflected.
In the case of karate, the women led by captain Daniela Flores took first place after beating their opponents in four categories, while the men’s squad, despite their short competitive experience, managed to take third place. Nelson Bustos, coach of the selected teams, demonstrated satisfaction with the results obtained and the commitment shown in each training session prior to this tournament, adding that “the great challenge for every athlete on the national team is and will always be to make studies compatible with sport, with “in order to perform well in both areas.”
At the same time, the representatives of our University were not far behind in the table tennis championship, also managing to take first place for both categories. Marla Alvarado, captain of the women’s team, congratulated her male counterparts, also thanking “the support of those who came to see us play, which motivates us to continue improving in order to qualify for the national tournament.”
By Juan Ignacio Lizana
Strategic Communication Department
