Osaka JPN - Ana Guevara will seek a fourth consecutive 400m medal and Madai Perez is ready to make history as Mexico announced a 27 member team for the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Osaka, Japan (25 Aug to 2 Sep).
"I am happy because I am back," to top form, Guevara said. The 30-year old sprinter from the northern state of Sonora has collected three consecutive 400m medals at the World Championships: the 2003 gold in Paris and bronze in Edmonton 2001 and Helsinki 2005.
The 2004 Olympic silver medallist confirmed her recovery when claiming her third consecutive Pan American Games crown in Rio de Janeiro, where she ran 50.34, her best time in over two years. Mexico's only Olympic and World sprint medallist will run with the same shoes of 2003, when she clinched the world title, but she admits she will wear them to feel more comfortable, not superstition.
Perez carries hopes on the road
On the roads, hopes are centered on Madai Perez, the fastest Spanish speaking marathoner ever, who ran 2:22:59 at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2006 and finished third in Boston last April. The tiny runner, coached by two-time ING New York Marathon winner German Silva, is a solid candidate for the top places. Two years ago in Helsinki, she improved her personal best to 2:26:50 to finish 11th.
MEN
200m: Juan Pedro Toledo
1500m: Juan Luis Barrios
5000m: Barrios and David Galván
10000m: David Galván
10000m: Alejandro Suárez
Marathon: Pablo Olmedo, Juan Vargas and Rito Regules (Maratón)
20km walk: Eder Sánchez, Daniel García and Gabriel Ortiz
50km walk: Horacio Nava, Omar Zepeda, Jesús Sánchez
High Jump: Gerardo Martínez
Pole Vault: Giovanni Lanaro and Robinson Pratt
WOMEN
200m: Zudikey Rodríguez
400m: Ana Guevara and Gabriela Medina
5.000 and 10.000m: Nora Leticia Rocha
Marathon: Madai Pérez, Angelica Sánchez, Paula Apolonio, Patricia Retis
High Jump: Romary Rifka
4x400m: Rodríguez, Ana Guevara, Medina, Nayelli Vela, María Teresa Rugerio