Zuleima Araméndiz

Zuleima Araméndiz
Full name	Zuleima Araméndiz Mejía
nation	Colombia
birthday	23rd September 1975 (age 44)
place of birth	Valledupar , Colombia
size	172 cm
Weight	85 kg
Career
discipline	Javelin throw
Best performance	59.94 m (June 12, 2004 in Bogotá )
status	resigned
End of career	2013
Medal table
South American Games 1 × 0 × 0 × South American Championships 2 × 3 × 1 × Central America and Caribbean Games 1 × 0 × 0 × Ibero-American Championships 0 × 1 × 3 ×
South American Games gold Valencia 1994 55.46 m South American Championships gold Manaus 1995 54.82 m gold Mar del Plata 1997 56.66 m bronze Bogotá 1999 55.77 m silver Cali 2005 54.81 m silver Tunja 2006 55.60 m silver São Paulo 2007 57.55 m Central America and Caribbean Games gold San Salvador 2002 56.63 m Ibero-American Championships bronze Medellín 1996 56.24 m silver Lisbon 1998 57.57 m bronze Huelva 2004 56.47 m bronze Iquique 2008 53.11 m
last change: January 3, 2020

Zuleima Araméndiz Mejía (born September 23, 1975 in Valledupar ) is a former Colombian javelin thrower .

Athletic career

Zuleima Araméndiz gained her first international experience in 1990 at the Junior South American Championships in Bogotá , where she took fourth place with a width of 40.82 m, before winning the gold medal at the Youth South American Championships in Lima with 41.22 m. In the following year she won the silver medal at the Junior South American Championships in Asunción with 42.50 m and in 1992 she was eliminated from the qualification at the Junior World Championships in Seoul with 49.76 m and then won the Junior South American Championships in Lima with 50.92 m. In 1993 she won the bronze medal at the Junior South American Championships in Puerto La Cruz with 46.46 m and in 1994 she was eliminated from the qualification at the Junior World Championships in Lisbon with 46.24 m, but then won the South American Games in Valencia with 55.46 m . The following year she won the South American Championships in Manaus for the first time with 54.82 m and in 1996 she won the bronze medal at the Ibero-American Championships in Medellín with a width of 56.24 m behind the two Cubans Sonia Bisset and Odelmys Palma . In addition, she took part in the Olympic Games in Atlanta for the first time, but retired there with 54.24 m in qualification .

In 1997 Araméndiz defended her title at the South American Championships in Mar del Plata with 56.66 m and then took part again in the World Championships in Athens , where she was eliminated again with 58.98 m in qualification. She then won the Juegos Bolivarianos in Arequipa with a new player record of 58.04 m. The following year she won the silver medal at the Ibero-American Championships in Lisbon with 57.57 m behind her compatriot Sabina Moya and in 1999 she won the bronze medal at the South American Championships in Bogotá with 55.77 m behind Moya and the Brazilian Sueli dos Santos . At the 2001 World Athletics Championships in Edmonton , she was eliminated for the third time with 52.23 m, but then won the silver medal behind her compatriot Moya at the Juegos Bolivarianos in Ambato with 55.56 m. In 2002 she won the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador with 56.63 m and in 2003 she took part for the first time in the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo , where she finished seventh with a width of 50.37 m. She then took part in the Summer Universiade in Daegu and was there with 51.21 m 21st. 2004 she won the Ibero-American Championships in Huelva with 56.47 m, the bronze medal behind the Cubans Osleidys Menéndez and Sonia Bisset. She also took part again in the Olympic Games in Athens, where she was eliminated with 59.94 m in qualification .

In 2005 she won the silver medal behind the Brazilian Alessandra Resende at the South American Championships in Cali with 54.81 m . She also won the silver medal behind Resende at the South American Championships in Tunja in 2006 and in São Paulo in 2007 with 55.60 m and 57.55 m, respectively. In 2005 she won after the continental competitions at the Juegos Bolivarianos in Armenia with 54.78 m. In 2006 she reached fifth place at the Central America and Caribbean Games in Cartagena with 56.03 m and in 2007 she was ninth at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro with 47.95 m. In 2008 she won the Ibero-American Championships in Iquique with 53.11 m, the bronze medal behind the Brazilian Resende and the Venezuelan María González . Then she was at the CAC Championships in Cali with 51.75 m sixth and retired at her third Olympic Games in Beijing with 54.71 m in qualification . In 2009 she won the Juegos Bolivarianos in Sucre for the last time with 51.81 m and then competed exclusively in national competitions until 2013, before ending her career as a professional athlete at the age of 38.

In 2001, 2006 and 2007, Araméndiz was the Colombian javelin champion.

Web links

• Zuleima Araméndiz in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Zuleima Araméndiz in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )