The entrerriana Antonella Ruiz Diaz got in the early hours of Friday the first medal for Argentina at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games by achieving bronze in shot put, with the best mark of his career.
Ruiz Díaz had a performance from lowest to highest in his six attempts at the Olympic stadium in the Japanese capital and was able to get on the podium in his first Paralympic participation. Besides of fourth launch, in which he achieved 9.50 meters to certify his personal best mark, the 24-year-old from Entre Ríos accumulated 9.11, 9.35, 8.84, 8.97 and 9.26.
When it was confirmed that he had a place on the assured podium he hit a couple of jumps, she greeted the Argentines who encouraged her from the rostrum and dressed with the blue and white flag, as published by the specialized site “Paradeportes.com”.
Later, he greeted the Tunisian Raoua Tlili, who won the event with 10.55 (world record) and hugged the Colombian Mayerli Buitrago Ariza, silver with 9.94 meters.
On that journey, Ruiz Díaz greeted the official broadcasting camera to break the thousands of kilometers that separate her from Gualeguaychú, where her family is. “I was without competing for almost two years due to the pandemic. But I tried not to think about it, I only focused on training and continuing to improve. Today I can enjoy the good result,” Ruiz Díaz told DeporTV, after getting on the podium.
The story of Ruiz Díaz has a particular tint, because he began to throw a bullet and a disk -the two disciplines are usually carried out in parallel- almost by chance in Chaco, in 2017, shortly after receiving a proposal to join category F41 (short).
Although they had seen her play basketball at the Faculty of Physical Education in Gualeguay, in that Chaco tournament she came to the court without knowing what she was going to do until Professor Bernardo Pignataro explained what the shot put and discus was about. . “I had never practiced it and they advised me. It seems that it went well for me, because they immediately offered me to go to practice at CeNARD“he recalled.
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