Neisi Dajomes became the first Ecuadorian woman to win gold at the Olympics on Sunday after winning the final of the women's weightlifting 76-kilo division.
Dajomes achieved her historic victory after lifting 118 kilograms in the snatch and 145 kilos in the clean and jerk for a total of 263.14 and surpassing the American Kate Nye.
Mexican Aremi Fuentes claimed bronze with a total of 245 kilos.
Upon getting on the podium,
the 23-year-old weightlifter, the daughter of Colombian refugees,
surprised by making an emotional dedication to her mother and brother.
Neisi Dajomes dedicated the victory to his mother and brother, to whom he assures that he owes his achievements.
His mother, Sandra Dajomes, was vital in the beginning of his career as an athlete, according to statements by Neisi herself.
And it was thanks to his brother Javier Palacios that he started weightlifting, a sport that has marked his life.
But they both passed away in 2019 and 2018, respectively.
"I had a hard time, I lost my mother (Sandra) and recently my brother Javier Palacios, for whom I am here, and all my achievements are dedicated to his memory," Dajomes said in statements broadcast by the Ecuadorian channel RTS.
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Her coach, Mayra Hoyos, told Ecuadorian television that when the weightlifter was 11 years old, she went to see her brother train and the trainers offered to try her as well.
"He started with a broomstick, to learn the technique, and the following week with a 10-kilo bar," he
said.
But Neisi made rapid progress and the coaches saw that he was promising.
Ecuadorian weightlifter Neisi Patricia Dajomes Barrera competes in the final of the 76-kilo division at the Tokyo Olympics on August 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.
AP
At the age of 13 she participated in her first international competition, in a world championship held in Peru, in 2011. In 2012 she was second and the following year she was world champion in the sub-17 category.
In 2015, he won his first international medal at the Pan American Games.
In 2017 and 2018 he won the three golds in the Junior World Cup, a triplet of gold medals that he has also achieved in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 Pan American Championships.
His gold this Sunday was the second Ecuadorian gold in Tokyo.
The first was reached at the beginning of the Richard Carapaz joust in road cycling.
By the way, it is the third golden metal of the Andean country in the Games, counting on that of Jefferson Pérez in Atlanta 1996.
The Ecuadorian Olympic Committee described Dajomes as "unmatched."
"There are no words! Thank you for this! Our first Ecuadorian woman with an Olympic medal. You are GOLDEN, NEISI!" Ecuador's Minister of Sports, Sebastián Palacios, said on Twitter.
After winning, the weightlifter said: "I feel very happy and very proud."
And he explained that it was the first time that he lifted 145 kilos, but that "the training regimen" gave him "the strength to be comfortable" in all his competitions.
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Dajomes attracts attention because he always competes with a flowery tiara on his head.
"I have
12 years lifting weights and have always tried to put
myself forward in this way, to show me
something in the head, with painted fingernails or socks or shoes of different colors ,
" he said.
"The fact that it
is a woman lifting weights doesn't mean you shouldn't look like a woman. "