Cesar Rodriguez He was born in Huancayo and as a child had the same dream that many Peruvian children also want: to become a professional footballer. Although he could not achieve it, his life was not separated from sports, as in athletics he found a way to reach the top and represent Peru since his school days. Now, at 26 years old, he holds the national record in walking, is the current monarch of the national championship in his discipline, has participated in Tokyo 2020, was a medalist at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago along with Kimberly García and has already done so for qualified for the Olympic Games. OO. Paris 2024. Rodríguez spoke to La República, explaining complicated passages in his life and asking the authorities to recognize his sporting achievements.
Kimberly García and Cesar Rodríguez won a silver medal for Peru at the 2023 Pan American Games. Photo: IPD
César Rodríguez and his march start
“I played football from the ages of 6 to 15. Before I entered fifth grade, I had applied for a reserve team in Huancayo and managed to join, but since I was still in school I had to give it up because “The training sessions were in double shifts,” says Rodríguez, who admitted that he was very sad about having to leave what he loved so much. However, a teacher noticed he had skills, including endurance, and suggested he try track and field.
He still hoped to play football and thought: “Why don’t I do this sport, stay physically fit and improve for next year and compete again?”. So he did it: he passed all the exams and was a member of the track and field team. Some time later he was selected to compete in a national championship in the 5,000 meter run; But everything fell apart again when he didn’t get the expected result, he ended up in 13th place and sadness overcame him. That day, as he was changing in the stands, he saw the athletic march, he noticed that many were competing and over time removing some until only a few remained. He said confidently: “I will take part there because I want to win a national medal.”
“In two days I started learning the walking techniques. I started little by little, between playing and playing with my friends… and In the second national race I took part in, I was able to get third place, then I ran obstacles and also took third place. Then the coach told me: “You have qualities.” In his third national competition, César was able to qualify for the World Underage Athletics Championships in Ukraine. This shaped his life because at this point he was convinced that he wanted to represent the country, get to know other places, compete along the way and set the goal of being the best by finishing 18th.
César Rodríguez will take part in the 2024 Olympics. Photo: IPD
A rapid rise due to your ambition
After starting in 2014, he set himself challenges in order to overcome them: “My goal was no longer a bronze medal, but a silver medal. I wanted to become national champion, little by little I achieved it. Then I said, ‘I want that.’ “I did it too. Then I had to do more, become Pan American Youth Champion and I achieved that in Canada in 2015.” He was the flag bearer at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and took fourth place in his discipline, and he also took second place at the 2016 World Championships in Rome Podium. “Two-time South American youth champion, South American bronze medalist and then South American marching champion, also Pan American champion, Bolivarian champion, silver medal at the Odesur Games and, most recently, silver at the 2023 Pan American Games,” are the achievements he achieves has.
“If there is an international medal, it will only be supported”
It is no secret that the sport needs more support from the authorities, many talents have been lost due to economic constraints and César Rodríguez has experienced many cases: “It’s what’s missing. Sometimes you don’t have the money to travel to a competition or to see what potential it has. Because you don’t have the money, you don’t travel. We tried hard.” I was able to go to Lima and see how we were doing. But it would be good if the IPD or the federations could invest in every athlete if there was a budget so that children could participate. “Only if there is an international medal is there support, if not there is no such support required. (…) Even if you are national champion many times, but you don’t have a medal in an international competition, you are not supported, there is no salary that can be paid to an athlete,” he reveals.
He was not in Lima in 2019 but fought to qualify for Tokyo 2020
César was unable to take part in Lima 2019 due to “lack of coordination” by the federation, despite being Pan American walking champion a few months earlier: “They got carried away with the brands and took me out, they let me out”. Without much chance of another medal, which also prevented him from taking part in the World Championships in Doha and qualifying for the Olympics. OO. From Tokyo he had to make a journey to get there.
“The pandemic began. Here you have to have results in six months, if you don’t have them, your support will be withdrawn. They kicked me out. I had to complain to other athletes so they could recategorize us. They did it, but at a low level, which is not enough. It was enough to maintain performance at a high level and when I asked the IPD for support to be able to travel to another country to compete and qualify, they told me that was not the case not at the level of a competitive athlete to be represented at the games. I had almost no one to support me, my association also told me that there was no budget. For a moment I almost gave up.he emphasized.
He trained at home during the pandemic and also admits that he secretly left the city to go to places without people to stay in shape: “I knew I was prepared, I wanted to go on a trip, for everything to demonstrate what I had trained.” “No one supported me, but then my family came in and told me they were making a travel bag with a ticket for me to a competition.”
He says that the entire stay of his trip cost him more than 10,000 soles; But it was worth it because it went from the top 100 to the top 40. After so much effort, he made it into the world rankings to qualify for the Olympic Games, and unexpectedly the support he was denied came to light: “That made me angry because only then did the association and the IPD get involved. That was no longer of use to me because they were missing. “Just two months, I didn’t want to compete anymore, so why would they give me so much support? If they didn’t give me the moment I needed them.”
He secured his pass for Paris 2024, but the IPD doesn’t recognize him: “They tell me: ‘Where does it say you are classified?'”
With the experience in Tokyo, César will go to his second Olympic Games with a new mentality: “I’m not the same athlete I was three years ago. Now you start with a very clear goal.” He qualified in August this year at the World Championships in Budapest with a time of 1:19:52, 18 seconds before the minimum time required for Paris 2024. However, the IPD, which should assure its representatives, does not recognize his performance.
Through the Athlete Support Program (PAD), the IPD provides grants to Peru’s top athletes and organizes them into performance levels. César Rodríguez is one of the Peruvians who will receive this payment; However, it shows that they do not accept it in the category in which it should be placed, namely the “direct classification” category. “To date, they have not recategorized us. It’s not just about me, but about several athletes, Evelyn Inga, Mary Luz Andía. I classified in August but so far they continue to pay me as before, they don’t raise me.” “. But what bothers César most is the way the authorities react to him: “When I ask to be recategorized, they don’t give me a solution, they tell me, ‘Where does it say you are classified?'”. “We hope it can be solved, but we don’t know how,” complains our representative.