34 athletes from Colombia arrived at the ‘Branch of Heaven’ to dispute the WU20 Cali 22

18 men and 16 women, from different regions of Colombia, will have the honor of representing the colors of the ‘tricolor’ at the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22. For some of them, the 'Sultana del Valle' represents the venue for their first World Championships participation, while for the most experienced it is the place where they seek to consecrate themselves in the select group of the best in the world.

This is the case of the walker Mateo Romeo, the 19-year-old born in the capital of Colombia who is heading for his third participation in a World Championships. His first major orbital event took place at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi last year, where despite being his first international competition, he reached 11th place. Already in March 2022, he participated in the World Walking Championships in Muscat, Oman, earning a remarkable fifth place.

The young man from Bogotá, in addition to feeling happy to be local and thus be able to count on the support of the public, also expressed the advantages of playing a Championships at home.

“Although I come from Bogotá, which is 2,600 meters above sea level, Cali is still a bit high, so we can take advantage of that. As for the weather, we have just prepared in Ibagué to adapt to the heat, so I think they are factors that could benefit us,” Moreno said.

Mateo arrives in Cali optimistic about representing the country with one of the best sixteen records of the season in the 10,000-meter walk with a record of 43:00:12 min.

On the other hand, the 17-year-old from Barranquilla, Melany Bolaño, has more than 35 gold, silver, and bronze medals in her extensive palm groves, among which is the first place in the South American Athletics Championships held in Lima in the 4x100 modality. Melany also has two qualifications for two U20 Championships, Nairobi 2021 and Cali 2022, however, the 'Branch of Heaven' becomes her first participation, as she could not travel to Kenya due to covid-19.

"It was very hard because I fought a lot to be able to enter that Championships, but with the help of God I was able to keep going and I kept training very hard."

Melany, classified in the 200-meter dash, aspires to reach her first Championships final: “I have been preparing very hard since the beginning of the year to be among the top of the ranking”, assured the young athlete.

The 34 young athletes will be accompanied by a body of coaches and officials confirmed by 13 members, including Professor Nelson Barragán, who has been in charge of the preparation of the Colombia team held 15 days ago in the cities of Bogotá, Ibagué, and Cali.

“We are in a World Championships, we have the best athletes in the world, including our athletes. We have options, we have planned a projection of at least 8 finals and we are aiming for us to be able to get on the podium 2 or 3 times”, mentioned Barragán, who also maintained that participation is one of their great objectives since they have a group of young people who are still part of the sub-18 category.

The largest sports festival in the history of Colombia will have a total of 1,517 athletes and 852 officials from 141 will be in the 'Sultana del Valle' to compete in the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 22.

Communications LOC World Athletics U20 Championships Cali 2022.