BUDAPEST (AFP) – Ecuadorian Andrés Chocho dreams of winning multiple medals in the 35-kilometer race walk at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Thursday. reason? He is an active athlete and a coach to other notable names in the discipline.
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Both the men’s and women’s distance races are scheduled to take place on Thursday at 7:00am local time (5:00am GMT), and Jojo will be running with an Ecuadorian jersey and number, and several of his students will also be in attendance, Some of these students expressed serious concerns about the podium option.
As an athlete and coach, he had already experienced this situation during the 35-kilometer race walking competition at the World Championships in Eugene last year and used the opportunity to issue instructions from within. With 10 kilometers to go, he was closing in on compatriot Daniel Pintado, but he was a lap ahead of him on the track. He is competing for medals, unlike Jojo who was left behind.
When they met side by side, Andres Jojo gave him a series of instructions. Pintado ended up on the podium in fourth place.
At the same World Cup, Peruvian Kimberly García, an outstanding student (39 years old) from Chocho, won a historic double gold medal in the women’s 20km and 35km categories.
Both Garcia and Pintado continue to train with Andres Jojo in 2021, as does Peruvian Cesar Rodriguez. Since 2010, Chocho has managed his wife, Brazilian Erica Sena.
All members of the team, led by Andrés Chocho, are registered on the “star list” to take part in Thursday’s adventure.
“Being a coach is both a challenge and an incentive. There is greater pressure, commitment and responsibility, so I try to cope with it in the best possible way,” he told AFP in an interview in the Hungarian capital.
Chocho did not participate in the 20km walking race that his students participated in last weekend, with Kimberly García almost finishing on the podium, finishing fourth and Daniel Pintado finishing seventh. César Rodríguez finished 17th but broke Peru’s distance record, while Erica de Sena scored an eye-catching finish just over a year postpartum The thirteenth.
Follow in father’s footsteps
“As an athlete, I’m very prepared. I still love when I’m preparing, especially now with my team,” he said.
He now has a dream of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He would be 40 years old at that time, which might be the perfect farewell for him to focus 100 percent on coaching.
The mirror in which we look at ourselves is clear: Luis Chocho, the legendary coach of the Ecuadorian side, died of covid-19 in early 2021 at the age of 64.
Luis Chocho was the coach of Andres himself and other Ecuadorian walkers, especially the legendary Jefferson Pérez, 1996 Olympic champion in Atlanta and three-time world champion (2003 2005 and 2007), among other achievements.
“My dad taught me everything on the fly. The hard work, dedication and discipline it takes to be a good athlete,” he explained.
“Team Chocho” has its base of operations in Cuenca (Ecuador), the birthplace of Jefferson Perez and Andrés himself. The altitude is 2,560 meters, which adds an advantage to the preparation of these high-endurance athletes.
The future of the parade is uncertain and Chocho doesn’t like the changes recently introduced.
The 50km walk, where Andrés Chocho won the 2015 Pan American Championships and finished eighth shortly after at the World Cup in Beijing, was replaced by the 35km walk. At the Paris Olympics, the 35km race was replaced by the mixed team relay.
“I hope the history of race walking is respected and a better future is sought for our discipline,” he hopes.
© 2023 AFP