With the gold medal hanging around his neck, as a sign of mission accomplished, the athlete Andrés Camilo Téllez Hernández returns to Valledupar this Wednesday, after being crowned champion with the Colombian rugby sevens team in the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games that take place in San Salvador.
The 21-year-old vallenato was part of the team that won the gold medal in the Central American country after defeating Jamaica in the final with a final score of 28-7.
The national team achieved first place on the podium without losing a single game, revalidating the title obtained at the Central American Games in Barranquilla 2018.
In the past Bolivarian Games that were held in Valledupar, Téllez also stood out with this same team by winning the silver medal.
“I feel proud, full of honor, happy and wanting to continue working more and more, to continue in the process and continue contributing to the team,” Téllez said in dialogue with EL PILÓN.
The UPC Physical Education, Recreation and Sports student, who acts as wing and center, is part of the Valledupar Lycans club where he stands out for his good level of play and discipline.
“Leadership characterizes him, he demands himself on the field, he is very determined and these are characteristics of the identity of our Valledupar Lycans club”, highlights José Bendeck, coach of the Vallenato club.
Téllez learned about this sport in 2016, at the age of 15, in the middle of a presentation at his school and from there he was encouraged to practice it. He went through teams like Titanes and Águilas de Acero, before being part of Lycans, his current club.
He was part of the Cesar team since 2016, in youth and senior categories. In 2018 he was declared the best revelation player.
He has been wearing a tricolor since last year, when he was summoned to the Colombian team of the Bolivarians of Valledupar. He later played a friendly match against the United States Panthers in 15s, then he was called to the South American in Paraguay and the Olympic Games Qualifiers in Uruguay, before facing the tournament in San Salvador.
COLOMBIA IN SAN SALVADOR
After three days at the head of the general medal table, the Colombian national delegation placed second this Wednesday at the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023, behind Mexico, the current champion, which -at the close of this edition- he went on to lead with 37 golds, 37 silvers and 28 bronzes.
Colombia, after the conquests of the fourth day, reached 33 gold, 15 silver and 19 bronze medals, to be second, ahead of Cuba, which accumulates 21 golds, 18 silvers and 22 bronzes.
For this Wednesday, Colombia began activity in two sports in which it aspires to add medals, bowling and track cycling. But he also disputed medals in artistic swimming, artistic gymnastics, sports shooting, surfing, swimming races and the nine boxing finals.
Colombia participates with a total of 411 athletes, with whom it seeks to secure a place on the podium of the Central American and Caribbean Games.
The country is present in 33 of the 39 sports summoned in the games. Among them are: chess, archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, handball, BMX, boxing, bowling, track and road cycling, canoeing, swimming (artistic, diving and open water), equestrian, fencing, beach soccer, gymnastics artistic (rhythmic and trampoline), weight lifting, wrestling, golf, judo, karate, mountain biking, rowing, rugby, sailing, softball, shooting sport, surfing, skating, tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, table tennis, volleyball and beach volleyball .
In addition to Téllez, the judoka from Cesar, Arkángel Barboza, has already participated in the sports jousts, and the athlete from Vallenata Natalia Linares will soon do so.
BY JOSÉ MARTÍNEZ VEGA / EL PILÓN
