World keirin champion Kevin Santiago Quintero received the Altius de Oro Prize, awarded by the Colombian Olympic Committee (COC) to the best athlete of 2023, during a gala in Bogotá on Thursday.
Last August, the cyclist won the keirin title and the rainbow jersey that makes him world champion of this track specialty, after winning the final at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, during the 2023 Cycling World Championships.
Quintero, who finished third in 2022, achieved his dream of being crowned the world’s best in keirin after a spectacular comeback that took him from sixth to first.
The Valle del Cauca also won the Pan American gold last year and several medals from the Olympic cycle at events such as the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Together with Quintero, the Pereira boxer Yenni Arias and the cyclist and teammate from Santiago on the track, the Santander Martha Bayona, were awarded. Arias came second and Bayona third.
The statue of the best athlete in the disciplines not part of the Olympic Games program went to the skater from Cartagena Andrés Jiménez, multiple world, Pan-American and Central American champion.
Source: El heraldo
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