In the morning it was learned that Anthony Zambrano will not be in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. And the Colombian athlete lost the possibility of defending the silver medal he won in Tokyo 2020 after failing to achieve the minimum mark in the 400 meters blueprints.
He had his last chance at the National Championship in Cali on Saturday, June 29, but he could not beat the mark of 45 seconds that he had initially obtained to qualify for the Olympic Games. The news was confirmed to the media, who published a video interviewing the protagonist with the subsequent reactions of the athlete from La Guajira after hearing the news.
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In statements to various media, the Colombian highlighted the disappointment he felt at not being able to be present at the Olympic Games. First he showed gratitude for the recovery he had in the deadline to compete in the Cali National Championship: “I feel grateful because I was able to recover quickly. These are things that happen in competition, difficulties that arise throughout the preparation.” He also said that he hopes that the Colombian Athletics Federation will carry out an investigation to find out if the decision was correct.” I hope that the Colombian Athletics Federation reviews whether the protocols were complied with to be able to make that decision,” he stated after being disqualified for invading lanes in the classification.
He also highlighted that these decisions that occur are part of the process. “I think it is part of the process, today we are good, tomorrow we could be bad, we have to keep working because whoever doesn’t do it, doesn’t fulfill their dreams. “These are situations that make one stronger in high-performance competition,” he highlighted about his decision to move forward on the issue.
He also highlighted that he will continue his preparation with his work team made up of the physiotherapist and the coach in the coming days in the city of Valencia, Spain. This, as Zambrano stated “in order to continue my recovery process in order to work to obtain the mark for the World Athletics Championships.”
He also added that he hopes that the publication of the athletics ranking will give him hope to qualify for the Olympic Games. “I will wait for the possibility of qualifying with the ranking that will be released next Monday where there is a little light for it, therefore I also appreciate the support of the Athletics Federation, the Ministry of Sports and the Colombian Olympic Committee for accompanying my team of work for the follow-up of my injury and subsequent recovery because this is a very long process and the recovery becomes slow, remembering that my injury was to the hamstrings and it takes a period of 2 to 3 months to make the complete recovery . Rest assured that the Olympic cycle has not ended for me, because we will continue preparing to go to the World Athletics Championships, because today we can be fine and tomorrow we will not know,” concluded the Colombian athlete in general summary of what will come for him in The near future.
Looking at what the participation of the Colombians will be, Zambrano’s absence is added to that of Egan Bernal who yesterday confirmed that he will not participate in the Olympic Games, so the Colombian delegation facing Paris 2024 will have less possibilities of obtaining medals in fundamental sports such as road cycling and athletics.
