Off the wire
• Overall individual standings of Tour de France after 14th stage  • Leading results of Tour de France 14th stage  • Hertha Berlin snap up Freiburg' s Vladimir Darida  • Pele undergoes back surgery  • Bartomeu voted in as FC Barcelona president for the next 6 years  • Individual classifications of Tour de France after 14th stage  • Team classification from Tour de France 14th stage  • One shot dead in C China law enforcement: police  • No exception from principles on role of lawyers: expert  • Suitcase with guns and ammo found at Mexico City airport  
You are here: 　 Home

Peruvian Gladys Tejera wins gold medal in women' s marathon

Xinhua, July 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Short and browned skinned, Gladys Tejeda, the Peruvian female runner, on Saturday won gold medal in Toronto 2015 Pan-American Games women' s marathon, local media reported.

Tejeda, 28, was born in Huancayo, an Andean city in Peru. She is a persistent and disciplined athlete, which helped her lead and win today' s competition.

Ater she won, in a television interview Gladys thanked the 30 million Peruvians for their support. She also thanked her coach, Mexican Rodolfo Gomez.

The favorite to win was Peruvian Ines Melchor, who has more experience. Many thought Tejeda will finish after Melchor, but the favorite runner fell down and had to abandon the competition.

Peruvians were filled with joy for Tejeda' s gold medal and even Peru' s President Ollanta Humala sent a congratulations message to the Peruvian medal winner.

Tejeda won bronze medal in Guadalajara 2011 marathon competition. Experts think she and Melchor have a great opportunity to win medals in Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.

Peruvian media praised Tejeda and sports commentators said her victory proves the great power of the Andean people, who are used to face great challenges in athletics thanks to the geography of their homeland. Endi