Colombia send team to alpine skiing development camp

Colombia have never participated in a Winter Paralympic Games.

A total of four aspiring Colombian Paralympians attended an IPC Alpine Skiing development camp in in Chilan, Chile, recently (27-28 September), taking their first steps towards becoming a fully-fledged team.

Yaneth Arango Ortiz, Veronica Saavedra, Rafael Esteban Tenjo Herrera and Andres Felipe Duke Morales accompanied by coach Cesar Yovani Castro Riano, were selected for the camp after a recruitment process by the Colombian Paralympic Committee (CPC) attracted 19 applicants.

Colombia have never participated in a Winter Paralympic Games.

"It was a fairly long and complex process through which you chosen four have emerged,” Dr. Eduardo Montenegro, Sporting Director at the CPC said at a special ceremony held in honour of the team.

Julio Avila, Vice President of the CPC said that the camp represented a dawning of a new era for Colombia: "I do not want to scare you but have two very important missions, one, wear the colours of our country and represent us at an event that for you is the first time you go to do… and two open the door for this to be the beginning of a new discipline for our country.”

At the camp, races in giant slalom and slalom were held to allow participants from three countries, Colombia, Chile and Argentina, to test the skills they had learnt over the two days.

Saavedra finished at the top of the women’s podium in both events.