Seven weightlifters from the Dominican Republic begin their Olympic journey towards Paris 2024 in Bogotá, when they take the leap to the platform to compete in the Weightlifting World Championship that starts this Monday.
Dahiana Ortiz will be the first to leave after winning the gold, silver or bronze medals, the first to be played in the World Cup.
"This is the first qualifying event for the 2024 Olympic Games in France"indicated the lawyer William Ozuna, president of the Federation of Weights of the Dominican Republic.
Both Ozuna and the head coach of the team, Hector Dominguez, expressed confidence that the athletes will play an honorable role in the event.
The Quisqueya delegation is headed by Crismery Santana, who together with Zacarias Bonnat are the first heterophiles to win Olympic medals for their country, when they stood on the podium last year in Tokyo, Japan.
Bonnat took silver in the 81 kg and Santana won bronze in the 89 kg. However, Zacarias was excluded from the World Cup when he tested positive for an adverse doping test that he underwent this week.
Ozuna and Dominguez predicted a good competitive performance not only from Ortiz and Santana, but from the rest of the team that includes Nathalia Nova, Daiana Serrano, Julio Cedeño, Yudelina Mejia and Jose Familia, who will jump onto the platform in the 59er divisions. , 71, 73, 81 and 102 kilograms, respectively.
The Caribbean delegation is also made up of the coaches Moreno Martinez, Mario Castro, the physiotherapist Ergan Montilla and the referee Martiza Ortiz.
Ozuna, who is the technical delegate of this team, said that his country comes to the World Cup with the best available talent and technically and competitively prepared to score a good number of points in this first Olympic qualifier.
Bonnat situation
On Saturday, the Executive Committee of the Weightlifting Federation, through its president William Ozuna, confirmed that its Olympic athlete Zacarias Bonnat had tested positive for an adverse doping test.
In this case, he indicated that now he will proceed to obtain the details about which prohibited substance was detected in the athlete’s blood, to see whether or not an appeal to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the agency of the International Olympic Committee in charge of leading the controls, proceeds. doping.
"Our federation was notified on Friday of Zacarías’s positive and we can officially start the appeal process as of this Monday the 5th, from this date we have nine business days to study the case and see what proceeds, if we can appoint a lawyer to who handles the case, or if we dismiss it".
What is an adverse test?
An adverse doping test is when an athlete’s body detects a substance that is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The Wada determines the positive as an adverse test until both the athlete or his representative, in this case the Dominican Weightlifting Federation, do not determine its veracity, and once informed about the type of substance found in the athlete’s blood, they accept it or reject.
It is in this case that the Weightlifting Federation has 9 days in its favor to study the case and decide in that space of time whether or not to appeal.