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Alexandra Escobar

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(Redirected from María Escobar)
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Escobar and the second or maternal family name is Guerrero.

Alexandra Escobar
Personal information
Full nameMaría Alexandra Escobar Guerrero
Born (1980-07-17) 17 July 1980 (age 44)
Esmeraldas, Ecuador
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
Country Ecuador
SportWeightlifting
Event58 kg
ClubFederación Deportiva de Esmeraldas
Coached byJavier Perez Rosas
Medal record
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2013 Wrocław –58 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Antalya –53 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2007 Rio de Janeiro –58 kg
Gold medal – first place 2011 Guadalajara –58 kg
Silver medal – second place 2019 Lima –59 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2008 Callao –58 kg
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guatemala City –58 kg
South American Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Medellín –58 kg

María Alexandra Escobar Guerrero (born 17 July 1980)[1] is an Ecuadorian weightlifter.

At the 2001 World Weightlifting Championships in Antalya, Turkey she won gold in the 53 kg category in the clean and jerk, bronze in the snatch, and the overall bronze medal with a total lift of 205 kg.[2]

She ranked 7th in the Woman's 58 kg category at the 2004 Summer Olympics, lifting 215 kg in total.[1]

At the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships she ranked 16th in the 58 kg category, and at the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships she ranked 5th in the same category, lifting a total of 220 kg.[1]

Escobar won the gold medal in the 58 kg category at the 2008 Pan American Weightlifting Championships.[1]

Escobar has competed five times at the Olympics in the women's 58 kg weight class. In the 2004 Summer Olympics she finished 7th with a 215 kg total.[3] At Beijing 2008 she ranked 4th with 223 kg in total.[1][4] At the 2012 Summer Olympics she finished 7th with a total of 226 kg.[5][6] At the 2016 Summer Olympics she finished 4th (223 kg) and at the 2020 Summer Olympics she recorded a DNF.[7]

Escobar was the Ecuadorian flag-bearer in the opening ceremonies for the 2004, 2008 and 2020 Olympic Games.[8][9]

Early life

[edit]

Escobar's parents struggled to support her, and soon sent her to be raised by her aunt Luisa Marquez.[10] It was Luisa's daughter, Adela Marquez, who introduced Escobar to the sport of weightlifting.[10] From an early age Escobar knew that sports would likely present the best opportunity to escape the poverty she had inherited at birth.[10]

Escobar was found by a local coach in Esmeraldas named Silvio Mila.[11] Mila practically refused to let Escobar walk away from the sport, and just four months after beginning to train in the sport she won her first medal and was shortly thereafter invited to join the Ecuadorian Weightlifting team.[11] Escobar first found international success in 2001 at the World Championships in Antalya, Turkey where she won a gold medal in the 53 kg Clean & Jerk event. Escobar has also found considerable success on her home continent winning 18 gold medals in various major South American competitions.[12] She has competed in three Olympic Games all in the 58 kg event, and is currently working towards qualifying for the 2016 games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[12] Escobar and her husband Dario Xavier Garcia have one son, Dominic Ramses Garcia.[12] She is currently coached by the Cuban Javier Perez Rosas, and trains in her home town of Esmeraldas.[5] The government has provided her with facilities to train in and a monthly stipend to allow her to focus solely on weightlifting.[5]

Pan American Championships

[edit]

While Alexandra Escobar has competed in three Olympic Games and several World Championships her greatest success has undoubtedly come at the Pan American Championships. She first appeared on the Pan American stage in 2008 at the games held in Callao, Peru when she swept the 58 kg events, winning three gold medals 1 each in the 58 kg, the 58 kg – snatch, and the 58 kg – clean & jerk. Since the 2008 games in Callao Escobar has won 10 gold medals, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze.[12] Making that even more impressive, she won back to back to back gold medals in both the 58 kg and the 58 kg – clean & jerk during the 2008, 2009 and 2010 games.[12] Escobar is showing no signs of slowing down either having recently won gold medals in 58 kg, the 58 kg – snatch and the 58 kg – clean & jerk events at the 2013 games held in Caracas, Venezuela.[12]

Olympic Games

[edit]

Alexandra Escobar's dream is to win an Olympic medal, and she has competed in five games so far. She first competed in the Olympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece. She then returned in the 2008 games in Beijing, China. Finally, she competed in London, England during the 2012 games. Prior to the 2012 games, Escobar said:

What I really want is to step up onto the podium and hear my country's national anthem. I've won medals at all the other major competitions – the South American, Bolivian and Pan American Games, and the World Championships. The only thing I don't have is the Olympic medal, which is why I'm going to give it everything I have to win one in London.

Escobar has yet to accomplish this goal as her best finish so far was fourth place in the 2008 and 2016 games. In the opening ceremony of the 2008 games, Escobar was the flag bearer for her home country Ecuador. Escobar considers this a great honor that was bestowed upon her.[11] Her other finishes in the Olympics were 7th place in 2004 and 9th in 2012. After the disappointing finish in London, there was some speculation that Escobar would retire as she has spoken about an interest in coaching and studying sports science.[12] However this soon proved false as she has returned to competitions in 2013.

World Championships

[edit]

Alexandra Escobar has competed in eight World Championships. She has won one gold medal, in 2001, and has finished second on two occasions, both occurring in the 2013 games held in Wroclaw, Poland.[12] She has also won four bronze medals, in 2001, 2003 and 2013. Her medals have all came in the 58 kg, 58 kg – snatch and 58 kg – clean & jerk events.

Controversy

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In October 2003, Escobar threatened to boycott the World Championships that were being held in Vancouver, Canada later that year unless the governing committee canceled a twenty thousand dollar fine that was imposed on a fellow competitor.[13] Ultimately, the issue was resolved and Escobar attended the games winning a bronze medal in the 58 kg – snatch event. This event painted Escobar as a martyr in the eyes of the weightlifting community and garnered her significant respect among her fellow competitors.[13]

Major results

[edit]
Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games[14]
2004 Greece Athens, Greece 58 kg 95.0 100.0 100.0 6 115.0 120.0 122.5 7 215.0 7
2008 China Beijing, China[15] 58 kg 96 96 99 2 120 124 127 4 223 4
2012 United Kingdom London, England 58 kg 100 100 103 2 123 127 127 8 226 7
2016 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 58 kg 97 100 102 4 118 121 123 5 223 4
2020 Japan Tokyo, Japan 59 kg 95 95 95 - - - - - - DNF
World Championships
2001 Turkey Antalya, Turkey 53 kg 85.0 90.0 90.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 110.0 110.0 115.0 1st place, gold medalist(s) 205.0 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2002 Poland Warsaw, Poland 53 kg 87.5 90.0 92.5 6 110.0 110.0 110.0 - - DNF
2003 Canada Vancouver, Canada 58 kg 90.0 90.0 92.5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 110.0 115.0 120.0 5 207.5 4
2006 Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 58 kg 82 85 85 15 103 103 103 19 188 16
2007 Thailand Chang Mai, Thailand 58 kg 95 99 101 4 118 121 124 6 220 5
2010 Turkey Antalya, Turkey 58 kg 95 100 100 4 120 124 127 4 227 4
2011 France Paris, France 58 kg 95 95 98 6 117 120 - 10 212 9
2013 Poland Wrocław, Poland 58 kg 98 103 106 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 120 120 122 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 225 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2014 Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan 63 kg 100 104 105 11 122 127 127 14 227 13
2015 United States Houston, United States 58 kg 94 97 97 5 117 120 124 8 217 6
2017 United States Anaheim, United States 58 kg 93 96 99 5 116 119 122 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 218 5
2018 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 55 kg 91 93 95 5 113 116 116 6 209 7
2019 Thailand Pattaya, Thailand 59 kg 85 87 90 17 105 110 115 13 205 13
2021 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan 59 kg 85 90 92 9 112 116 116 9 202 8

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "ESCOBAR Alexandra". International Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Three records for Emine but no medals". Turkish Daily News. 7 November 2001. Archived from the original on 28 June 2007. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  3. ^ "Lightweight (≤58 kilograms), Women (2004)". olympedia.org. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Lightweight (≤58 kilograms), Women (2008)". olympedia.org. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "IOC Solidarity Q&A: Alexandra Escobar | International Weightlifting Federation". Iwf.net. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  6. ^ "Lightweight (≤58 kilograms), Women (2012)". olympedia.org. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Alexandra Escobar". olympedia.org. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Flagbearers for Ecuador". olympedia.org. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  9. ^ "The flagbearers for the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony" (PDF). olympics.com. IOC. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  10. ^ a b c "Noticias del Ecuador y el mundo | Ecuador – Quito – Guayaquil". HOY. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  11. ^ a b c "Memorias del Deporte". Memorias del Deporte. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h "London 2012". London2012.bio.infostradasports.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  13. ^ a b "El Telégrafo, Decano de la Prensa Nacional | Ecuador". Telegrafo.com.ec. Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  14. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alexandra Escobar (full name: María Alexandra Escobar Guerrero)". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Athlete biography at Beijing2008.cn". Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
[edit]
Olympic Games
Preceded by Flag bearer for  Ecuador
Athens 2004

Beijing 2008

Succeeded by
Preceded by Flag bearer for  Ecuador
Tokyo 2020
With: Julio Castillo 		Succeeded by
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