At the Expofuturo Convention Center in Pereira, Valle del Cauca established itself as the big winner of the judo tournament in the National Youth Games, taking nine gold medals. The team, led by Olympic medalist Yuri Alvear, closed with a flourish by beating Antioquia in the mixed team final.
The Valle del Cauca team, composed of Heidy Santillana, Michael Molina, Brenda Olaya and John Edwar Caicedo, dominated from the beginning. In the quarterfinals they beat Atlántico 4-0, and in the semifinals they repeated the score against Santander. For its part, Antioquia reached the final after beating Bogotá and Cauca, both matches by 4-1.
In the general medal table, Valle led with 9 gold medals, followed by Bogotá with 2. Antioquia took third place with a gold medal, also standing out for adding 10 in total (1 gold, 7 silver and 2 bronze).
As a special recognition, the Colombian Judo Federation presented a plaque to Brenda Olaya, highlighting her as the best judoka in the world in the 78 kilogram category. The judo tournament reaffirmed Valle’s dominance and successfully closed this first version of the National Youth Games.
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