The Altius Awards highlighted the best in Colombian sports in 2023. The cyclist Kevin Quintero was exalted as the athlete of the year. The eleventh edition of this prestigious award was celebrated this Thursday, January 18, with the presence of the best exponents of Colombian Olympic sport from last season, with 19 statuettes that highlighted 14 athletes and other events that marked a year full of sporting achievements. .
With the presence of the best athletes from each National Sports Federation, the presentation of the Altius Awards to the best of ours took place at the Bogotá Convention Center, under the direction of the president of the Colombian Olympic Committee, Ciro Solano Hurtado and the executive committee of the entity.
The winners of the night were the Valle del Cauca Kevin Santiago Quintero and the skater Andrés Mauricio Jiménez, both world champions and leaders in their sports, with a 2023 that was the best of their sports careers and which earned them the Altius de Oro.
On the podium of the sports included in the Olympic Games program, Kevin Quintero was accompanied by the Pereira boxer Yenni Arias and Kevin’s cyclist and teammate on the track, the Santander native Martha Bayona.
For its part, on the podium for sports not included in the Olympic Games program, along with Andrés Jiménez, the Risaraldense goalkeeper Sara López and the Quindian bowler Clara Juliana Guerrero were with the silver statuette.
In addition to the elite podiums, the Altius Awards also have the youth podiums, in which the Santander gymnast Ángel Barajas and the motorcyclist David Alonso won the gold Altius, thanks to their impeccable results during 2023. Ángel was world champion and David won four Moto3 races in the MotoGP World Championship, placing third overall.
Ángel was accompanied on the podium as the promise of the year of the sports included in the Olympic Games program by the world champion cyclist Juliana Londoño and the Samarian Pan American champion athlete Arnovis Dalmero.
In turn, David, in the category of promise of the year 2023 of the sports not included in the Olympic Games program, was accompanied by the figure skaters Jeshua Folleco and María Paula Muñoz with the Altius de Plata and the Tolima cyclist Valentina Roa , national figure of world downhill.
To the 12 statuettes on the elite and youth podiums, the Altius Awards added other awards that adorned the night, such as the distinction for life and work, awarded to sports leader Gustavo Moreno Jaramillo and baseball legend Antonio ‘Manía’ Torres, who recently passed away.
The best sporting event of the year was received by the Cali Junior World Track Championship and the contribution to the environment was for the National Sports Games of the Coffee Region, marked by a legacy that called them the Green Games.
Finally, in this eleventh edition of the Altius Awards, a category was created, Fair Play, which was awarded to the judoka Erika Lasso, who moved the sports world with her gesture at the Pan American Games in Santiago, carrying on her shoulders a rival who couldn’t walk.
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico