Zuray Marcano Fuenmayor (26 May 1954 – 23 August 2020) was a Venezuelan teacher and Paralympic powerlifter. In 2016, she was a competitor at the Rio Paralympics at the age of 62.

Life

Marcano was born in 1954 and suffered from

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whilst still a baby. She was left with disabilities which meant that when her fellow schoolmates did sports and exercise she was asked to keep score and she never competed. She took a degree in teaching and she was awarded a master's degree in Education from the University of the Basque Country in

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.Rio Paralympics 2016: Zuray Marcano, the 62-year-old weightlifter
Olivia Blair and Charlie Hammans, Tuesday 6 September 2016, The Independent, Retrieved 7 September 2016 Marcano tried athletics and swimming but settled on powerlifting when she was 35. Mercano had two children. When she was chosen to compete at the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

in Sydney she saw it as a learning experience where she could prove that she too could compete. Marcano came eighth in the 48 kg category after lifting 62 kg.Zuray Marcano, 62, set for her second Paralympic Games
6 September 2016, Paralympic.org, Retrieved 8 September 2016 She competed at the 2011 Parapan Am Games in

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. She qualified for the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio at the age of 62. Marcano achieved her personal best and was placed eighth in her 50kg category after lifting 63 kg. The gold medal was taken by

Lidiia Soloviova Lidiia Soloviova (born 21 January 1978) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian disability Powerlifting, powerlifter, who has represented Ukraine at the Powerlifting at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, 2000, Powerlifting at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, 2004, Pow ...

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who lifted 107 kg. Marcano died on 23 August 2020 in her hometown aged 66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcano, Zuray 1954 births 2020 deaths People from El Tigre Sportspeople from Anzoátegui Sportspeople from Maracay Paralympic powerlifters for Venezuela Powerlifters at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Female powerlifters 21st-century Venezuelan women