A community that motivates us: Ana María Torres and triathlon

Perseverance and perseverance are the terms that describe a woman full of strength and empowerment. Ana María Torres, a law student at the University of Azuay, has filled both her family and our university community with pride and satisfaction, since in parallel with her university studies, she has managed to position herself as a recognized athlete.

Throughout her life, sport has been one of her greatest passions, but it was not until 2015 that Ana María made her debut as a triathlete in Galapagos. The unfortunate loss of her grandfather Édgar Rodas Andrade, first Dean of our Faculty of Medicine, marked a turning point in her career, from that moment on she has dedicated all her victories to him.

Triathlon, a discipline in which Ana María stands out, consists of three sports; swimming, marathon and cycling. Your routine begins at four in the morning, at which time your workout begins for approximately six hours. Torres' challenge is to adequately combine the daily time required for his university studies, with his sports and personal life. In the coming months, his routine will be even more demanding as he is about to start his preparation as an elite athlete, which requires 8 hours of training a day.

Ana María tells us that one of the best things in her sporting life has been to establish new friendships and get to know several countries, she also added that long distances by bicycle take her to a state of meditation in which she connects with herself. He also told us about the difficulties in sport, adding that one of them is machismo, in this sense he considers that it has been affected, for example, by having been underestimated by many men for the sole fact of being a woman and for her physical appearance .

"In sports there is a lot of machismo and physical competition between men and women, there is no point of comparison, because physically men and women are different and wanting to compete as equals is illogical."

Finally, she addressed women: "All women must show that we can eat the world and never think that we cannot do something because we are women."

To this he added a message for the entire university community: “Play sports and never give up, you can start small, it will always do you good. Believe that anything is possible and don't let anyone tell you otherwise ”.

If you are part of our university community and you have a story that motivates us, write to us at  comunica@uazuay.edu.ec

UDA Correspondent