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Jefferson Pérez

{{Short description|Ecuadorian race walker (born 1974)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{family name hatnote|Pérez|Quezada|lang=Spanish}}

{{Infobox athlete

| headercolor = silver

| name = Jefferson Pérez

| image = Jefferson-Perez.jpg

| image_size = 240px

| caption = Pérez in action in 2008

| full_name = Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada

| nickname = Jeffi

| nationality =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1974|07|01|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 1.67 m

| weight = 60 kg

| country = {{flagcountry|Ecuador}}

| sport = Athletics

| alma mater = University of Azuay

| event = Racewalking

| retired = 21 September 2008 (age {{age|1974|07|01|2008|09|21}})

| olympics = 1996 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport|Men's Racewalking}}

{{MedalCountry | {{ECU}} }}

{{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}}

File:Olympic rings.svg

{{MedalGold|1996 Atlanta|20 km walk}}

{{MedalSilver|2008 Beijing|20 km walk}}

{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}

{{MedalGold|2003 Paris|20 km walk}}

{{MedalGold|2005 Helsinki|20 km walk}}

{{MedalGold|2007 Osaka|20 km walk}}

{{MedalSilver|1999 Seville|20 km walk}}

{{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}}

{{MedalGold|1995 Mar del Plata|20 km walk}}

{{MedalGold|2003 Santo Domingo|20 km walk}}

{{MedalGold|2007 Rio de Janeiro|20 km walk}}

{{MedalBronze|1999 Winnepeg|20 km walk}}

{{MedalCompetition|South American Games}}

{{MedalGold|1998 Cuenca|20 km walk}}

{{MedalCompetition|Bolivarian Games}}

{{MedalGold|1993 Cochabamba|20 km walk}}

{{MedalGold|1997 Arequipa|20 km walk}}

{{MedalGold|2001 Ambato|20 km walk}}

{{MedalSilver|2005 Armenia|20 km walk}}

{{MedalCompetition|World Junior Championships}}

{{MedalGold|1992 Seoul|10,000 m walk}}

{{MedalBronze|1990 Plovdiv|10,000 m walk}}

{{MedalCompetition|South American Youth Championships}}

{{MedalGold|1988 Cuenca|5 km walk}}

{{MedalGold|1990 Lima|5 km walk}}

}}

Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada (born 1 July 1974) is an Ecuadorian retired race walker. He specialised in the 20 km event, in which he won the first two medals his country achieved in the Olympic Games.{{cite web |title=Jefferson Perez – Reaching for Olympic Gold |url=https://www.ecuador.com/blog/jefferson-perez-reaching-for-olympic-gold/ |website=Ecuador.com |access-date=8 August 2021}}

Early life

Pérez was born in El Vecino, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Cuenca, to Manuel Jesús Pérez and María Lucrecia Quezada. Like others in his neighborhood, his family was of limited economic means. He attended the elementary schools Eugenio Espejo and Gabriela Cevallos. Afterwards he entered the Francisco Febres Cordero high school, at the same time working to help out his family.

He graduated in Business Engineering and later obtained an MBA (Master in Business Administration) from the University of Azuay in Ecuador.

Career

Pérez entered race-walking by accident. To prepare for a walk that served as a high school physical education exam, he asked his brother Fabián to train for one week next to the group of athletes directed by trainer Luis Muñoz. Muñoz decided to invite him to compete in a race. With few weeks of preparation he won the race AID, winning the right of representing Ecuador in New York City and London as a sport ambassador.

Initially he participated in distance competitions of six kilometers. Later he had to make a radical decision, which was to dedicate himself completely to race walking. His first regional trophy in the 5 km walk during the South American Pre-Junior championship held in his native city of Cuenca.

His first international achievement occurred when he won the bronze medal in the Junior World Cup of Athletics in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in 1990.

Two years later, he won the Junior World title in Seoul, Korea, followed shortly by victories in South American and Pan-American open competitions.

=Olympic Games=

Pérez won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, becoming the youngest ever Olympic race walk champion. Following his win he embarked on a {{Convert|459|km||abbr=on|adj=on}} pilgrimage, walking, jogging and running from Quito's Franciscan cathedral to his hometown of Cuenca.[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1270859,00.html "True Olympians"]

He won a silver medal, his second medal, at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He had fourth-place finishes in the 20 km walk at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.{{Cite web |last=Minshull |first=Phil |date=15 March 2023 |title=Perez the pinnacle of 100 years of Ecuadorian athletics |url=https://www.worldathletics.org/heritage/news/ecuadorian-athletics-federation-centenary |access-date=15 March 2023 |website=World Athletics}}{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Jefferson Pérez |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pe/jefferson-perez-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203191904/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/pe/jefferson-perez-1.html |archive-date=3 December 2016}}

Image:Perez-flag.jpg

=World Championships=

Pérez won a silver medal at the 1999 World Championships in Seville.

He then won three consecutive gold medals from 2003 to 2007 at the World Championships in Paris, Helsinki, and Osaka, the only person that has been able to achieve this feat.

Pérez's winning time of 1:17:21 in 2003 became the first official world record for the 20 km walk when standards for road events were recognised from 2004 onwards and he received a financial bonus.

=Retirement=

Pérez walked his final race at the World Race Walking Challenge final in Murcia, Spain. He finished third in that race and second in the overall challenge standings.{{cite news|title=Fernandez and Feitor take Murcia wins; Overall titles for Tallent & Plätzer – Race Walking Challenge Final |url=http://www.iaaf.org/WRC08/news/kind=100/newsid=47797.html |date=21 September 2008 |access-date=23 September 2008 |publisher=IAAF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922151445/http://www.iaaf.org/WRC08/news/kind%3D100/newsid%3D47797.html |archive-date=22 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}

He announced his retirement from the sport in 2008.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081003035218/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/23/content_8032816.htm "Ecuadorian walker Jefferson Perez trains alone for Beijing-2008"], Xinhua, 23 April 2008.

Personal bests

class="wikitable" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
EventResultVenueDate
colspan="4"|Road walk
10 km38:24 min{{flagicon|POL}} Kraków8 June 2002
20 km1:17:21 hrs{{flagicon|FRA}} Paris Saint-Denis23 August 2003
50 km3:53:04 hrs{{flagicon|GRE}} Athens27 August 2004
colspan="4"|Track walk
10,000 m38:37.6 min (ht){{flagicon|NOR}} Bergen9 May 1998
20,000 m1:20:54.9 hrs (ht){{flagicon|COL}} Cali5 July 2008

International competitions

{{AchievementTable|nation=ECU|Event=yes|Result=yes|NotesOff=yes|class=wikitable style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%;}}
1988

|South American Youth Championships

|Cuenca, Ecuador

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|5 km

|24:44.4 {{AthAbbr|A}}

1989

|South American Junior Championships

|Montevideo, Uruguay

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10,000 m

|45:03.71

rowspan=4|1990

|South American Junior Championships

|Bogotá, Colombia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10,000 m

|42:57.95 {{AthAbbr|A}}

World Junior Championships

|Plovdiv, Bulgaria

|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd

|10,000 m

|40:08.23

South American Race Walking Cup (U20)

|Guayaquil, Ecuador

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10 km

|44:31.9

South American Youth Championships

|Lima, Peru

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|5 km

|19:49.54

rowspan=5|1991

|World Indoor Championships

|Sevilla, Spain

|10th

|5000 m

|20:20.05

South American Junior Championships

|Asunción, Paraguay

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10,000 m

|43:10.1

South American Championships

|Manaus, Brazil

| –

|20 km

|DQ

Pan American Junior Championships

|Kingston, Jamaica

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|10,000 m

|44:06.11

South American Race Walking Cup (U20)

|Bogotá, Colombia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10 km

|42:48.6 {{AthAbbr|A}}

rowspan=5|1992

|Ibero-American Championships

|Seville, Spain

|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd

|20 km

|1:25:50.5

Olympic Games

|Barcelona, Spain

| —

|20 km

|DNF

South American Junior Championships

|Lima, Peru

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10,000 m

|45:31.2

World Junior Championships

|Seoul, South Korea

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10,000 m

|40:42.66

South American Race Walking Cup (U20)

|São Paulo, Brazil

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10 km

|45:39

rowspan=4|1993

|Bolivarian Games

|Cochabamba, Bolivia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:26:19 {{AthAbbr|A}}

South American Junior Championships

|Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10,000 m

|42:24.2

South American Championships

|Lima, Peru

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:24:31

Pan American Junior Championships

|Winnipeg, Canada

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|10,000 m

|39:50.73

rowspan=3|1994

|South American Race Walking Cup

|Sucre, Bolivia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:30:04 {{AthAbbr|A}}

Pan American Race Walking Cup

|Atlanta, Georgia, United States

|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd

|20 km

|1:24:34

Ibero-American Championships

|Mar del Plata, Argentina

|5th

|20 km

|1:26:08.2

rowspan=3|1995

|South American Race Walking Cup

|Cuenca, Ecuador

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:27:46 {{AthAbbr|A}}

Pan American Games

|Mar del Plata, Argentina

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:22:53

World Championships

|Gothenburg, Sweden

|33rd

|20 km

|1:34:20

rowspan=2|1996

|South American Race Walking Cup

|São Paulo, Brazil

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:25:33

Olympic Games

|Atlanta, Georgia, United States

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:20:07

rowspan=4|1997

|South American Race Walking Cup

|Bogotá, Colombia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:26:19 {{AthAbbr|A}}

World Race Walking Cup

|Poděbrady, Czech Republic

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:18:24

World Championships

|Athens, Greece

|14th

|20 km

|1:24:46

Bolivarian Games

|Arequipa, Peru

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:27:54 {{AthAbbr|A}}

rowspan=4|1998

|South American Race Walking Cup

|Bogotá, Colombia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:22:53 {{AthAbbr|A}}

Pan American Race Walking Cup

|Miami, Florida, United States

| —

|50 km

|DNF

Goodwill Games

|Uniondale, New York, United States

|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd

|20,000 m

|1:29:18.4

South American Games

|Cuenca, Ecuador

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:23:11 {{AthAbbr|A}}

rowspan=3|1999

|World Race Walking Cup

|Mézidon-Canon, France

| —

|50 km

|DNF

Pan American Games

|Winnipeg, Canada

|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd

|20 km

|1:20:46

World Championships

|Seville, Spain

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|20 km

|1:24:19

rowspan=3|2000

|South American Race Walking Cup

|Lima, Peru

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:30:50

Pan American Race Walking Cup

|Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico

|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd

|20 km

|1:24.36

Olympic Games

|Sydney, Australia

|4th

|20 km

|1:20:18

rowspan=7|2001

|World Championships

|Edmonton, Canada

|8th

|20 km

|1:22:20

Universiade

|Beijing, China

|5th

|20 km

|1:26:11

Bolivarian Games

|Ambato, Ecuador

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:30:27 {{AthAbbr|A}}

South American Race Walking Cup

|rowspan=4|Cuenca, Ecuador

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|rowspan=2|20 km

|rowspan=2|1:26:21 {{AthAbbr|A}}

Pan American Race Walking Cup

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

South American Race Walking Cup

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|rowspan=2|Team

|10 pts

Pan American Race Walking Cup

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|21 pts

rowspan=4|2002

|rowspan=2|World Race Walking Cup

|rowspan=2|Turin, Italy

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:21:26

4th

|Team

|61 pts

South American Race Walking Cup

|Puerto Saavedra, Chile

| —

|20 km

|DNF

Ibero-American Championships

|Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20,000 m

|1:23:51 {{AthAbbr|A}}

rowspan=4|2003

|rowspan=2|Pan American Race Walking Cup

|rowspan=2|Chula Vista, California, United States

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:23:12

bgcolor=silver|2nd

|Team

|13 pts

Pan American Games

|Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:23:06

World Championships

|Paris Saint-Denis, France

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:17:21

rowspan=4|2004

|rowspan=2|World Race Walking Cup

|rowspan=2|Naumburg, Germany

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:18:42

bgcolor=silver|2nd

|Team

|35 pts

rowspan=2|Olympic Games

|rowspan=2|Athens, Greece

|4th

|20 km

|1:20:38

12th

|50 km

|3:53:04

rowspan=3|2005

|South American Championships

|Cali, Colombia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:22:54 {{AthAbbr|A}}

World Championships

|Helsinki, Finland

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:18:35

Bolivarian Games

|Armenia, Colombia

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|20 km

|1:24:22 hrs {{AthAbbr|A}}

rowspan=4|2006

|rowspan=2|South American Race Walking Championships

|rowspan=2|Cochabamba, Bolivia

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:26:27 {{AthAbbr|A}}

bgcolor=silver|2nd

|Team

|12 pts

rowspan=2|World Race Walking Cup

|rowspan=2|A Coruña, Spain

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|20 km

|1:19:08

7th

|Team

|68 pts

rowspan=3|2007

|Pan American Race Walking Cup

|Balneário Camboriú, Brazil

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:25:08

Pan American Games

|Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:22.08

World Championships

|Osaka, Japan

|bgcolor=gold|1st

|20 km

|1:22:20

rowspan=2|2008

|Central American and Caribbean Championships

|Cali, Colombia

|1stGuest

|20,000 m

|1:20:54.9 {{AthAbbr|A}}

Olympic Games

|Beijing, China

|bgcolor=silver|2nd

|20 km

|1:19:15

In popular culture

He appeared on Japanese TV show Hey! Spring of Trivia multiple times - in one episode, he tested how long it actually took to walk to a train station from an apartment advertised as "5 minutes away" (for him, it took under 2 minutes); in another, the show tested whether he would walk or run away when threatened (he ran).

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{Official website|http://www.jeffersonperez.com}}
  • {{World Athletics}}
  • {{Olympics.com|jefferson-perez}}
  • {{Olympedia}}
  • [http://www.racewalk.com/JPerez/JPerez.asp Photos about his technique]
  • {{cite news|last=Biscayart|first=Eduardo|title=Jefferson Pérez, a true Champion, retires|url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/jefferson-perez-a-true-champion-retires|publisher=IAAF|date=29 September 2008|access-date=1 May 2016}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-ach|rec}}

{{succession box|before=Paquillo Fernández|title=Men's 20km Walk World Record Holder|years=August 23, 2003 – September 29, 2007|after=Vladimir Kanaykin}}

{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 20 km Walk Men}}

{{Footer World Champions 20 km Walk Men}}

{{Footer IAAF World Walking Cup Men}}

{{Footer Pan American Champions 20km Walk Men}}

{{Footer World Junior Champions men's racewalking}}

{{Footer WBYP Race Walk Men}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Jefferson}}

Category:1974 births

Category:Living people

Category:Sportspeople from Cuenca, Ecuador

Category:Ecuadorian male race walkers

Category:Olympic athletes for Ecuador

Category:Olympic gold medalists for Ecuador

Category:Olympic silver medalists for Ecuador

Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)

Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for Ecuador

Category:Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games

Category:Goodwill Games medalists in athletics

Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Ecuador

Category:World Athletics Championships medalists

Category:World record setters in athletics (track and field)

Category:South American Games gold medalists for Ecuador

Category:South American Games medalists in athletics

Category:Competitors at the 1998 South American Games

Category:World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships winners

Category:World Athletics Championships winners

Category:Competitors at the 2001 Summer Universiade

Category:Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games

Category:Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games

Category:Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games

Category:Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games

Category:Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games

Category:20th-century Ecuadorian people

Category:21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen

Category:Bolivarian Games gold medalists for Ecuador

Category:Bolivarian Games medalists in athletics

Category:Bolivarian Games silver medalists for Ecuador