Carmen Anita Chalá Quilumba (born June 7, 1976) is a

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

and former field athlete from

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Early life, family and education

Carmen was born in the Ecuadoran province Carchi but at heart she is from Manabí. Her family has many athletes in it: older sister Eva, and younger sisters Diana and Vanessa have all been national judo team members.

Athletic career

Carmen Chalá was a national champion in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and discus throw. However, by 1995, realizing that there are not many chances to be a successful field athlete at an international level, she began learning and practicing judo. She was 29 years old, considered very late to begin an endeavor like that. Her older sister Eva Chalá inspired her to try judo as she was already involved in it herself; Eva later became a referee for the sport as well. After only a month of judo training, Carmen became a national heavyweight champion. In the final, she defeated Olympian

María Cangá María Magda Cangá Valencia (born September 27, 1962) is a female judoka from Ecuador. She competed for her native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where she was defeated in the first round and carried the national flag ...

, whom Carmen considered the nation's top female judo athlete. Although her success has been primarily within South American contests, Chalá participated at three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

but won only one match, defeating

Sandra Köppen Sandra Köppen-Zuckschwerdt (born 15 May 1975 in Potsdam) is a German judoka. She also won a gold medal in sumo wrestling at the 2005 World Games The 2005 World Games (german: Weltspiele 2005), the seventh World Games, were an international ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In 2009, she wanted to join in politics but later delayed her candidature. She decided to continue as an athlete, aspiring to participate in the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, but she did not.

Achievements

References

External links

Carmen Chalá
on

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