Inés Melchor (born August 30, 1986 in Acobambilla,

Huancavelica Huancavelica () or Wankawillka in Quechua is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the department of Huancavelica and according to the 2017 census had a population of 49,570 people. The city was established on August 5, 1572 by the Viceroy ...

) is a Peruvian

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. She competed in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the

2012 Summer Olympics 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 ...

, placing 25th with a time of 2:28:54. In September 2014 she placed 8th at the

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (german: Berlin-Marathon, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , inclu ...

with a time of 2:26.48, new Peruvian national record and the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

area record. Melchor also holds Peruvian records for the 5000 and

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

on the track. She won numerous youth and junior medals at the continental level and competed at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

and the

2004 Summer Olympics 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), ...

while still a teenager. She won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

double in the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the

2009 South American Championships in Athletics The 2009 South American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''2009 Campeonatos Sudamericanos'') was the forty sixth edition of the tournament and was held between 19 and 21 June in Lima, Peru. Brazil dominated the tournament, easily finishing w ...

. She also won the bronze medal in the 5000 m at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

. She is a three-time champion at the

South American Cross Country Championships The South American Cross Country Championships is an annual continental cross country running competition for athletes from South America or, more specifically, member countries of CONSUDATLE. It was first held in 1986, making it the oldest of t ...

Biography

Early life

Inés Melchor, or her complete name is ''Santa Inés Melchor Huiza'', was born in 1986 in

Acobambilla District Acobambilla District is one of nineteen districts of the Huancavelica Province in Peru. Geography There are a couple of large lakes in the district like Anqasqucha, Astuqucha, Chiliqucha, Chunchuqucha, Kanllaqucha, Milluqucha, Papaqucha, Wa ...

Huancavelica Province The Huancavelica Province is one of seven provinces located in the Huancavelica Region of Peru. The capital of this province is the city of Huancavelica. Boundaries *North: Tayacaja Province *East: Acobamba Province, Churcampa Province and Angara ...

Perú , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy fo ...

. "Inés Melchor - Clasificada a Londres 2012"
Xoom. Retrieved on 2012-08-06. She was only three months old, when her parents decided to move to

Huancayo Huancayo (; in qu, label=Wanka Quechua, Wankayuq , '(place) with a (sacred) rock') is the capital of Junín Region, in the central highlands of Peru. Location Huancayo is located in Huancayo Province, of which it is also the capital. Sit ...

. There, Inés attended local school in Nuestra Señora del Cocharcas and eventually earned a

bachelor of laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Los Andes Peruvian University , mottoeng = Towards Academic Excellency , image_name = Los Andes Peruvian University logo.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Seal of "Los Andes" Peruvian University, Huancayo , established =1983 , type =P ...

. "Ines Melchor habla sobre su trayectoria en el deporte del atletismo"
. Retrieved on 2012-08-06.

Youth and junior career

Melchor emerged as one of South America's most promising long-distance runners at an early age. She was the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

silver medallist at the 2000 South American Youth Championships in Athletics at the age of thirteen. The following year she won the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

title at the

2001 South American Junior Championships in Athletics The 33rd South American Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Santa Fe, Argentina at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo Pedro Candioti from October 11–13, 2001. The combined events and walks were held in conjunction with the P ...

(also taking 3000 m bronze), and then won the 3000 m title and 5000 m silver at the Pan American Juniors a week later. As the youngest in the field at the 2002 South American Junior Championships, both Nadia Rodríguez and

Silvia Paredes Silvia Alexandra Paredes Yucailla (born 23 January 1983) is an Ecuadorian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She competed in the women's marathon event at the 2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olím ...

(two and three years older than Melchor) got the better of her and the Peruvian left with only a 3000 m bronze medal. In the younger age bracket she won the 3000 m at the South American Youth Championships and also managed a bronze in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. Melchor was dominant regionally in 2003: aged sixteen, she won both the 3000 m and 5000 m titles at the South American Juniors and the Pan American Juniors. At the

2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the third edition of the international athletics competition for youth (under-18) athletes organised by the IAAF. It was held in Sherbrooke, Canada from the 9–13 July at the Université de Sh ...

3000 m race she was the best performer from the Americas, taking sixth overall. Such was her talent, she was one of a handful of Peruvian entrants for the

, where she ran in the

.Ines Melchor

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2013-07-29. In 2004, she won her first junior title at the

. She was the only runner from the Americas in the 3000 m at the

2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Grosseto, Italy on 12–18 July. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1261 athletes from 168 count ...

and placed eleventh. The seventeen-year-old made her Olympic debut for Peru at the

2004 Athens Olympics 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), ...

, competing in the first round of the 5000 m. She was the youngest of only twelve Peruvians present at the games. She also placed ninth in the 3000 m at the

2004 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics The 2004 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (''Spanish: XI Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') was the eleventh edition of the international athletics competition between Ibero-American nations which was held at the Estadio Iberoameri ...

that year. She was South America's best performer in the junior race at the

2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in ...

, coming 29th overall. In her last year of junior eligibility she won a 3000/5000 m double at the South American Juniors. She was the 5000 m champion at the Pan American Juniors but was beaten into second in the 3000 m by Canada's Alyson Kohlmeier.

Start of senior career

In her first year of senior competition, she competed sparingly, with her main appearance being 72nd in the long race at the

2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on April 1/2, 2006. The races were held at the Umi-no-nakamichi Seaside Park in Fukuoka, Japan, Japan's National Cross Country Course which is the permanent residence of the annual Fukuo ...

after a victory at the South American Cross Country . The following year saw her make a breakthrough as a senior runner. She was runner-up at the South American Cross Country behind Ednalva Laureano da Silva. At her first continental senior championships she was fifth in the 5000 m but took the

silver medal behind Lucélia Peres. At the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

she ran in the 10,000 m and broke Marilu Salazar's fourteen-year-old Peruvian record with a time of 33:36.17 minutes for fifth place. In 2008, she won her second senior title at the South American Cross Country and did a 5000/10,000 m double at the national championships, breaking Faustina Huamani's 5000 m national record in the process with a time of 16:17.37 minutes. She went unchallenged in either event at the

2008 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics The 3rd South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics were held in Lima, Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , ...

, held in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

and left with two gold medals.

South American titles

She reduced her national records further at the

held on home turf in Lima. She established herself as the region's best distance runner as she won the 5000 m with a time of 16:00.41 minutes and the 10,000 m with a time of 33:11.79 minutes (also a championship record). She ran in the 5000 m heats at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

later that year and tried out a new event at the

2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 11 October 2009. It was the final event of the International Association of Athletics Federations' 2009 World Athletics Series. Organisation The city of B ...

, where she was 40th in a personal best of 74:33 minutes. She ended her year with a 10,000 m win at the

Bolivarian Games The Bolivarian Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Bolivarianos'', full name ''Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos'') are a regional multi-sport event held in honor of Simón Bolívar, and organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (''Organización Deport ...

. In 2010, she won the South American cross country title for a third time, but did not compete for the rest of the year. She returned to action near the end of 2011 and claimed the 5000 m bronze medal at the

Marathon running

Melchor moved up to the

distance in the 2012 season. Every year she runs about two or three marathons a year. Also she runs short races during the year. She made her debut at the

Seoul International Marathon The Seoul International Marathon, also known as the ''Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon'' is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the ...

and her time of 2:30:04 hours for sixth was a Peruvian marathon record. This qualified her for the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She improved her national record further at the competition, completing a run of 2:28:54 hours for 25th place. At the closing ceremony she was the flag bearer for Peru. In 2013, she placed third at the

Santiago Marathon The Santiago Marathon ( es, Maratón de Santiago) is an annual event first run in 2007 through the streets of Santiago Chile. Other races include a half marathon and a 10K run. The marathon held the IAAF Road Race Label Events, IAAF Road Race Bro ...

, won the Ultimas Noticias 15K in Ecuador, and was runner-up at the

Bogotá Half Marathon The Bogotá International Half Marathon ( es, Media Maratón Internacional de Bogotá), or mmB as it is traditionally known, is an annual road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. Th ...

. On April 12, 2015, she won the

which confirmed her qualification for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro.

Personal bests

*1500 m: 4:30.78 –

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municipalities ...

, 4 July 2004 *3000 m: 9:28.44 –

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

, 9 July 2003 *5000 m: 15:30.63 NR – Trujillo, 28 November 2013 *10,000 m: 33:07.75 –

, 6 October 2013 *Half marathon: 1:12:31 –

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, 8 September 2013 *Marathon: 2:26.48 NR -

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, 28 September 2014

Achievements

References

*
London Summer 2012
site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Melchor, Ines Living people 1986 births Peruvian female long-distance runners Peruvian female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Peru People from Huancavelica Region World Athletics Championships athletes for Peru Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for Peru Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 South American Games South American Games gold medalists for Peru South American Games bronze medalists for Peru South American Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games South American Games gold medalists in athletics 20th-century Peruvian women 21st-century Peruvian women