Ecuador at the Olympics
Ecuador first made an appearance in the Olympic Games when they sent a three-man delegation to the 1924 Summer Games which was held in Paris, France. None of them were able to advance and get to finish their events. At this time, Ecuador did not have an official governing body that represents the Ecuadorian Olympic athletes. The Ecuadorian National Olympic Committee (ECU) was only established in 1948 and was only recognized by the International Olympic Committee eleven years later.
Ecuador did not attend the Summer Olympic Games from 1928 all the way to 1964. In 1968, they sent fifteen athletes to Mexico City, Mexico and from this point on, they have never missed the Summer Olympics.
But they had to wait until the 1996 Summer Games held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA before they won Olympic gold, their first-ever Olympic medal since their debut in 1924.
Jefferson Pérez was part of the nineteen-athlete delegation to the Atlanta Games and he became Ecuador's first-ever Olympic medalist when he won the men's 20 km walk. Twelve years later, he returned to the same event and won the silver in Beijing, China.
In 2021, Ecuador won their second Olympic gold medal when cyclist Richard Carapaz won the men's road race of the first day of the Games. It was double success at these Games, Neisi Dajomes became Ecuador's first female medalist and second gold medalist, winning gold in the women's weightlifting 76 kilograms.
Related Pages
- About Ecuador at the Winter Olympics — they participated in their first Winter Olympic Games in 2018.
- About sport in Ecuador
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