Inés Melchor

Inés Melchor
Inés Melchor at the 2012 Summer Olympics Marathon
Personal information
Full nameSanta Inés Melchor Huiza
Born (1986-08-30) 30 August 1986 (age 38)
Acobambilla, Huancavelica, Peru
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country Peru
Sportathletics
EventLong-distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • Half marathon: 1:14:3
  • Marathon: 2:26:48
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Peru
South American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Lima 5000 m
Gold medal – first place 2009 Lima 10,000 m
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Guadalajara 5000 m
Updated on 29 July 2013

Inés Melchor (born August 30, 1986) is a Peruvian long-distance runner. She competed in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics, placing 25th with a time of 2:28:54. In September 2014 she placed 8th at the Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:26.48, new Peruvian national record and the South America area record.[1] Melchor also holds Peruvian records for the 5000 and 10,000 metres on the track.

She won numerous youth and junior medals at the continental level and competed at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and the 2004 Summer Olympics while still a teenager. She won a gold medal double in the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the 2009 South American Championships in Athletics. She also won the bronze medal in the 5000 m at the 2011 Pan American Games. She is a three-time champion at the South American Cross Country Championships.

Biography

Early life

Inés Melchor, or her complete name is Santa Inés Melchor Huiza, was born in 1986 in Acobambilla District, Huancavelica Province, Perú.[2]

She was only three months old, when her parents decided to move to Huancayo. There, Inés attended local school in Nuestra Señora del Cocharcas and eventually earned a bachelor of laws from Los Andes Peruvian University.[3][4]

Youth and junior career

Melchor emerged as one of South America's most promising long-distance runners at an early age. She was the 3000 metres silver medallist at the 2000 South American Youth Championships in Athletics at the age of thirteen.[5] The following year she won the 5000 metres title at the 2001 South American Junior Championships in Athletics (also taking 3000 m bronze),[6] and then won the 3000 m title and 5000 m silver at the Pan American Juniors a week later.[7]

As the youngest in the field at the 2002 South American Junior Championships, both Nadia Rodríguez and Silvia Paredes (two and three years older than Melchor) got the better of her and the Peruvian left with only a 3000 m bronze medal.[8] In the younger age bracket she won the 3000 m at the South American Youth Championships and also managed a bronze in the 1500 metres.[9]

Melchor was dominant regionally in 2003: aged sixteen, she won both the 3000 m and 5000 m titles at the South American Juniors and the Pan American Juniors.[10][11] At the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics 3000 m race she was the best performer from the Americas, taking sixth overall.[12] Such was her talent, she was one of a handful of Peruvian entrants for the 2003 World Championships in Athletics, where she ran in the 5000 metres.[13]

In 2004, she won her first junior title at the South American Cross Country Championships.[14] She was the only runner from the Americas in the 3000 m at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics and placed eleventh.[15] The seventeen-year-old made her Olympic debut for Peru at the 2004 Athens Olympics, competing in the first round of the 5000 m. She was the youngest of only twelve Peruvians present at the games.[16] She also placed ninth in the 3000 m at the 2004 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics that year.[17]

She was South America's best performer in the junior race at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, coming 29th overall.[18] In her last year of junior eligibility she won a 3000/5000 m double at the South American Juniors. She was the 5000 m champion at the Pan American Juniors but was beaten into second in the 3000 m by Canada's Alyson Kohlmeier.[19][20]

Start of senior career

In her first year of senior competition, she competed sparingly, with her main appearance being 72nd in the long race at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships after a victory at the South American Cross Country .[13] The following year saw her make a breakthrough as a senior runner. She was runner-up at the South American Cross Country behind Ednalva Laureano da Silva.[21] At her first continental senior championships she was fifth in the 5000 m but took the 10,000 metres silver medal behind Lucélia Peres.[22] At the Pan American Games she ran in the 10,000 m and broke Marilu Salazar's fourteen-year-old Peruvian record with a time of 33:36.17 minutes for fifth place.[23]

In 2008, she won her second senior title at the South American Cross Country and did a 5000/10,000 m double at the national championships, breaking Faustina Huamani's 5000 m national record in the process with a time of 16:17.37 minutes.[24] She went unchallenged in either event at the 2008 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics, held in Lima and left with two gold medals.[25]

South American titles

Melchor (right) racing in the 2012 Olympic marathon.

She reduced her national records further at the 2009 South American Championships in Athletics held on home turf in Lima. She established herself as the region's best distance runner as she won the 5000 m with a time of 16:00.41 minutes and the 10,000 m with a time of 33:11.79 minutes (also a championship record).[26]

She ran in the 5000 m heats at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics later that year and tried out a new event at the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, where she was 40th in a personal best of 74:33 minutes.[13] She ended her year with a 10,000 m win at the Bolivarian Games.

In 2010, she won the South American cross country title for a third time, but did not compete for the rest of the year.[27] She returned to action near the end of 2011 and claimed the 5000 m bronze medal at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Marathon running

Melchor moved up to the marathon distance in the 2012 season. Every year she runs about two or three marathons a year. Also she runs short races during the year. She made her debut at the Seoul International Marathon and her time of 2:30:04 hours for sixth was a Peruvian marathon record.[28] This qualified her for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She improved her national record further at the competition, completing a run of 2:28:54 hours for 25th place.[29][30][31] At the closing ceremony she was the flag bearer for Peru.

In 2013, she placed third at the Santiago Marathon, won the Ultimas Noticias 15K in Ecuador,[32] and was runner-up at the Bogotá Half Marathon.[33] On April 12, 2015, she won the Santiago Marathon which confirmed her qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[34]

Personal bests

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Peru
2000 South American Youth Championships Bogotá, Colombia 2nd 3000 m 10:40.67 min A
2001 South American Junior Championships Santa Fe, Argentina 3rd 3000 m 10:12.99
1st 5000 m 17:14.49
Pan American Junior Championships Santa Fe, Argentina 1st 3000 m 10:11.50
2nd 5000 m 17:28.18
2002 South American Junior Championships /
South American Games 		Belém, Brazil 3rd 3000m 10:05.60
4th 5000m 17:49.04
South American Youth Championships Asunción, Paraguay 3rd 1500 m 4:44.94
1st 3000 m 10:19.43
2003 South American Junior Championships Guayaquil, Ecuador 1st 3000 m 9:58.83
1st 5000 m 16:57.0
World Youth Championships Sherbrooke, Canada 6th 3000 m 9:28.44
Pan American Junior Championships Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 3000 m 9:57.96
1st 5000 m 16:53.37
World Championships Saint-Denis, France 15th (h) 5000 m 17:17.90
2004 South American Cross Country Championships – Junior Macaé, Brazil 1st 6.0 km 21:43
World Junior Championships Grosseto, Italy 11th 3000 m 9:41.89
Ibero-American Championships Huelva, Spain 9th 3000 m 9:37.35
Olympic Games Athens, Greece 38th (h) 5000 m 17:08.07
2005 South American Cross Country Championships – Junior Montevideo, Uruguay 2nd 6.0 km 22:19
World Cross Country Championships – Junior Saint-Galmier, France 29th 6.153 km 22:33
Pan American Junior Championships Windsor, Canada 2nd 3000 m 9:36.24
1st 5000 m 16:48.06
South American Junior Championships Rosario, Argentina 1st 3000 m 9:50.87
1st 5000 m 17:05.78
2006 South American Cross Country Championships Mar del Plata, Argentina 1st 8.0 km 27:55
World Cross Country Championships Fukuoka, Japan 72nd 8.0 km 28:49
South American U23 Championships /
South American Games 		Buenos Aires, Argentina 6th 5000m 17:16.39
4th 10,000m 35:57.85
2007 South American Cross Country Championships Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2nd 8.0 km 29:34
South American Championships São Paulo, Brazil 5th 5000 m 16:23.44
2nd 10,000 m 34:13.23
Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 5th 10,000 m 33:36.17
2008 South American Cross Country Championships Asunción, Paraguay 1st 8.0 km 28:19
South American U23 Championships Lima, Peru 4th 1500m 4:38.36 A
1st 5000m 16:44.59 A
1st 10,000m 35:43.27 A
2009 South American Cross Country Championships Concepción, Chile 3rd 8.0 km 28:25
South American Championships Lima, Peru 1st 5000 m 16:00.41
1st 10,000 m 33:11.79
World Championships Berlin, Germany 20th (h) 5000 m 16:00.83
World Half Marathon Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 40th Half marathon 1:14:33
Bolivarian Games Sucre, Bolivia 1st 5000 m 17:42.95 A
1st 10,000 m 36:00.62 A
2010 South American Cross Country Championships Guayaquil, Ecuador 1st 8.0 km 27:15.9
2011 Pan American Games Guadalajara, Mexico 3rd 5000 m 16:41.50
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 25th Marathon 2:28:54
2013 Bolivarian Games Trujillo, Peru 1st 5000 m 15:30.63
1st 10,000 m 33:52.9 ht
2014 South American Games Santiago, Chile 1st 5000 m 15:51.20
1st 10,000 m 33:10.06
Ibero-American Championships São Paulo, Brazil 1st 5000 m 15:58.85
2015 Santiago Marathon Santiago, Chile 1st Marathon 2:28:18
Quito Últimas Noticias Quito, Ecuador 1st 15K 51:56
South American Championships Lima, Peru 1st 10,000 m 32:28.87
Pichanaki International Marathon Chanchamayo, Peru 1st 21K 1:28
2017 Bolivarian Games Santa Marta, Colombia 1st 10,000 m 33:57.13
2018 South American Games Cochabamba, Bolivia 1st 10,000 m 35:57.86

References

  1. ^ "41 BMW Berlin-Marathon". BMW Berlin-Marathon.
  2. ^ "Inés Melchor - Clasificada a Londres 2012", Xoom. Retrieved on 2012-08-06.
  3. ^ "Inés Melchor: Mi corazón es del Perú y la UPLA". Inés Melchor: Mi corazón es del Perú y la UPLA. Universia Perú. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
  4. ^ "Ines Melchor habla sobre su trayectoria en el deporte del atletismo", . Retrieved on 2012-08-06.
  5. ^ South American Youth Championships 2000 Archived 2011-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  6. ^ South American Junior Championships 2001 Archived 2011-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  7. ^ Pan American Junior Championships 2001 Archived 2013-08-31 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  8. ^ South American Junior Championships 2002 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  9. ^ South American Youth Championships 2000 Archived 2013-08-31 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  10. ^ South American Junior Championships 2003 Archived 2013-08-31 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  11. ^ Pan American Junior Championships 2003 Archived 2011-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  12. ^ World Youth Championships 2003 Archived 2011-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. WJAH. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  13. ^ a b c Ines Melchor. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  14. ^ South American Junior Cross Country 2004 Archived 2013-07-15 at the Wayback Machine. WJAH. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  15. ^ World Junior Championships 2004 Archived 2014-03-02 at the Wayback Machine. WJAH. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  16. ^ Peru at the 2004 Athina Summer Games Archived 2013-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  17. ^ El Atletismo Ibero-Americano - San Fernando 2010 Archived 2011-11-23 at the Wayback Machine. RFEA. Retrieved on 2011-11-19.
  18. ^ World Junior Cross Country 2005 Archived 2013-07-15 at the Wayback Machine. WJAH. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  19. ^ South American Junior Championships 2005 Archived 2012-09-09 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  20. ^ Pan American Junior Championships 2005 Archived 2011-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. World Junior Athletics History. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  21. ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (2007-02-25). On the road to Mombasa - South American Cross Country Champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  22. ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (2007-06-10). 14.57 Area Triple Jump Record for Costa as South American Champs finish. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  23. ^ INES MELCHOR Y MARIO BAZAN NUEVOS RECORDS NACIONALES Archived 2013-07-29 at archive.today (in Spanish). Atletismo Peruano (2007-07-30). Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  24. ^ PER Record Progressions- Track. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2011-12-08). Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  25. ^ III Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 23 - 2008, 5-6-7 Setiembre, Lima - Perú (PDF), Federación Colombiana de Atletismo, archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2020, retrieved January 14, 2012
  26. ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (2009-06-22). Brazil repeats triumph at South American Championships – Day 3 report. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  27. ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (2010-03-02). Almachi and Melchor win South American Cross titles. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  28. ^ Kurdyumova, Yelena & Porada, Sergey (2012-03-18). Loyanae cruises 2:05:37 to shatter course record in Seoul. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  29. ^ "Ines Melchor". London 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  30. ^ Inés Melchor ganó medalla de oro (in Spanish), La Primera, September 24, 2011, retrieved May 13, 2013[permanent dead link‍]
  31. ^ "Women's Marathon: Results". London 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  32. ^ AIMS June 2013 Results Archived 2015-09-08 at the Wayback Machine. AIMS. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  33. ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (2013-07-28). Kipsang and Jeptoo win in Bogota. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  34. ^ "Peru athletes Ines Melchor and Raul Pacheco to run for gold at Rio 2016 Olympic Games". Andina Agencia Peruana de Noticias. April 13, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.