Richard Carapaz will not defend the Olympic title in the midst of a controversy: “Never stop raising your voice for a fair sport”

Ecuador won five medals in its history at the Olympic Games and two of those were gold medals, both won in Tokyo 2020. Neisi Dajomes will defend the title won in weightlifting in Paris 2024, but the cyclist Richard Carapaz will not have the same luck.

In the midst of a controversy caused by the criteria used by the Ecuadorian Cycling Federation (FEC) to choose its representative, Caparaz was left out of the Olympic Games and who will go will be his partner in Tokyo, Jhonatan Narváez.

“The points have been taken into account since January, but the regulations were not published until the month of March when there was a difference in points between the athletes,” the 2019 Giro d’Italia champion explained in the midst of the conflict and noted: “It is clearly biased and lacks the fundamental principles of justice and sports equity.”

Carapaz asked the Ministry of Sports to intervene to establish a selection process “completely free from any favouritism or discrimination”, but the FEC did not accept the request to postpone the decision and explained that the Ecuadorian representative was elected “as requested by the Ecuadorian Olympic Committee (COE), on the basis of federative autonomy and issued regulations.”

Narváez, who will participate in both the road race and the time trial, acknowledged that “I didn’t like the statements Richard made because I think we have to have mutual respect between both runners” and said: “The authorities are in their place for a reason, it’s a regulation that was made this year, I had nothing to do with it.”

In the last few hours, Carapaz put an end to the controversy and wished “the best of luck to Jhonatan, that he does his best and that he represents us in the best way”, although at the same time he stressed: “Never stop raising your voice for a fair sport”.