María Isabel Urrutia

María Isabel Urrutia ( María Isabel Urrutia Ocoró; born March 25, 1965 in Candelaria , Valle del Cauca ) is a former Colombian weightlifter and athlete . The Afro-American Colombian has been active as a politician since the end of her sporting career .

Athletic career

athletics

She has been active as a shot put and discus thrower since school . In these disciplines she achieved a total of 17 Colombian championship titles from 1991 to 1999.

In 1981 she won gold in the discus throw and silver in the shot put at the Juegos Bolivarianos . 1983 in Santa Fe she was Vice South American champion in discus throw.

In 1985 she won bronze in the discus throw at the Central American and Caribbean Athletics Championships. The following year followed bronze in the shot put and discus throw at the Central American and Caribbean Games and silver in the discus throw at the Ibero-American Championships. In 1987 she won bronze in the discus throw at the Central America and Caribbean Championships. At the Pan American Games in Indianapolis she was fourth in the discus throw and seventh in the shot put, and at the World Athletics Championships in Rome she was eliminated in the discus throw in qualification.

In 1988 she won bronze in the discus throw at the Ibero-American Championships. At the Olympic Games in Seoul , she was eliminated in both the shot put and the discus throw in the preliminary round.

In both disciplines she won the Juegos Bolivarianos in 1989, won bronze at the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1990 and won the South American Athletics Championships in Manaus in 1991 . At the Pan American Games in Havana in 1991 , she was fifth in discus and sixth in the shot put, and at the Ibero-American Championships in 1992, she won bronze in discus.

In 1993 she defended both titles at the Juegos Bolivarianos. At the South American Championships in Lima she won the discus throw and won silver in the shot put, at the Central America and Caribbean Championships she won silver in the discus throw and bronze in the shot put and at the Central America and Caribbean Games bronze in the discus throw.

In 1995 she was fourth in the discus throw at the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata and won silver in the shot put and discus throw at the South American Championships in Manaus . In 1997 she again defended both titles at the Juegos Bolivarianos, and in 1998 she won bronze in both disciplines at the Central American and Caribbean Games.

Personal best

• Shot put: 16.47 m, October 21, 1990, Medellín (former Colombian record)
• Discus throw: 58.50 m, June 26, 1992, Valencia (Colombian record)

Weightlifting

Since she had been doing weightlifting as a compensatory sport for athletics since the beginning of the 1980s, she also started in this sport competitively from 1989 and achieved great success. She became world champion in Sarajevo in 1990 and in Istanbul in 1994, before she crowned her athletic career in 2000 with the Olympic victory in Sydney in the weight class up to 75 kg. In total, she won 25 medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships.

International success / duel

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, KG = body weight)

• 1989: 2nd place at the World Championships in Manchester , up to 82.5 kg body weight, with 230 kg, behind Li Hongling , People's Republic of China , 240 kg and in front of Judy Oakes , United Kingdom , 202.5 kg;
• 1990: 1st place at the World Championships in Sarajevo , up to 82.5 kg body weight, with 230 kg, ahead of Valkana Tocheva , Bulgaria , 210 kg and Chung Sook-Kwon, South Korea , 185 kg;
• 1991: 2nd place at the World Championships in Donaueschingen , up to 82.5 kg body weight, with 240 kg, behind Li Hongling , 240 kg and in front of Karyn S. Marshall , USA , 240 kg;
• 1994: 1st place at the World Championships in Istanbul , up to 83 kg, ahead of Chen Shu-Chih , Taiwan and Derya Açıkgöz , Turkey ;
• 1995: 2nd place at the World Championships in Guangzhou , up to 83 kg, with 237.5 kg, behind Chen Shu-Chih, 240 kg and in front of Panagiota Antonopoulou , Greece , 225 kg;
• 1996: 3rd place at the World Cup in Warsaw , up to 83 kg body weight, with 235 kg, behind Wei Xinagqin, China, 242.5 kg and Chen Shu-Chih, 242.5 kg;
• 1997: 2nd place at the World Championships in Chiangmai , up to 83 kg body weight, with 235 kg, behind Tang Weifang , China, 260 kg, and in front of Mon Khin-Aye , Myanmar . The original winner Derya Açıkgöz (262.5 kg) was subsequently disqualified for doping;
• 1998: 3rd place at the World Championships in Lahti , over 75 kg, with 242.5 kg, behind Gonghong Tang , China, 255 kg and Chen Hsiao-Lien, Taiwan , 245 kg
• 2000: Gold medal at the OS in Sydney , up to 75 kg body weight, with 245 kg in front of Ruth Ogbeifo , Nigeria , 245 kg and Kuo Yi-Hang, Taiwan, 245 kg

Medals individual disciplines

(World Cup medals are no longer awarded at the Olympic Games)

• World Cup gold medals: 1990, snatch, 100 kg - 1990, push, 130 kg - 1994, snatch, 1994, push - 1995, snatch, 105 kg - 1996, push, 135 kg -
• World Cup silver medals: 1989, snatch, 100 kg - 1989, push, 130 kg - 1991, snatch, 102.5 kg - 1991, push, 137.5 kg - 1995, push, 132.5 kg - 1997, snatch, 105 kg - 1997, pushing, 130 kg - 1998, snatching, 110 kg
• World Championship bronze medals: 1996, snatch, 100 kg - 1998, push, 132.5 kg

Political career

After finishing her career as an active athlete, Maria Isabell Urrutia, using her popularity in the country, campaigned for the socially disadvantaged population. She has been a member of parliament since 2002.

Web links

• María Isabel Urrutia in the database of World Athletics (English)
• María Isabel Urrutia in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )