Nicaragua has its sporting reference in the taekwondo player Elián Ortega in 2023

San José, Dec 14 (EFE).- Taekwondo player Elián Ortega Velásquez, double silver medalist at the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile 2023, gold at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, and number one in the world in taekwondo’ poomsae’, ended the year of 2023 with ample merit as a Nicaraguan sports figure.

The final year student studying Software Engineering at the University of Costa Rica made history at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games by becoming the first athlete from his country to win two silver medals in the same edition.

Ortega Velásquez, 23, won his first silver medal in the men’s individual poomsae (combination of defenses and attacks), and the second in the mixed poomsae pair, along with Ingrid Darce.

After that competition, he left third place and once again took number 1 in the world among 542 competitors with 195.97 points.

The Nicaraguan first surpassed the American Ryan Real, with 190.46 points, the Dutchman Joel Van Der Weide, with 170.56, and the South Korean Wan Jin Kang, with 161.08.

The ‘poomsae’ is a category that consists of executing a combination of defensive and offensive movements against imaginary rivals, and the judges assess the technique, rhythm, speed of the attacks and other elements.

He won gold in the Central American and Caribbean Games and in the Alba Games.

He won the gold medal in the traditional poomsae category and the silver medal in the freestyle poomsae category at the Central American and Caribbean Games held in San Salvador between last June and July.

Thus, in addition to being the best ranked in the world and Pan American runner-up, the young man is Central American and Caribbean champion for the second consecutive games.

Nicaragua’s sports figure of the year, with 13 years of dedication to that sport, was proclaimed Amateur Athlete of 2022 by the Nicaraguan Olympic Committee (CON)

The Nicaraguan Sports Writers Association (ACDN) designated him as the second Amateur Athlete of 2022 below basketball player Norchad Omier, who plays with the Miami Hurricanes.

He has one of the best poomsae techniques in the world. Taekwondo player Ortega Velásquez, at the top of world poomsae, was born on February 13, 2000, is a native of Managua and has been studying in Costa Rica since 2019, where he also works.

He is part of the Impacto academy in Nicaragua and trained in South Korea ahead of the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

For now, poomsae is not a discipline that is practiced in the Olympic Games. Paris can wait.