Valentina Toro and Fernando Renz will be our flag bearers for the Asunción 2022 South American Games

Karate fighter Valentina Toro and captain of the Chilean field hockey team, Fernando Renz, have been named as flag bearers of the Team Chile delegation that will compete at the Asunción 2022 South American Games, to take place between October 1 and 15 this year. The ceremony was held in the Marlene Ahrens Olympic training Center, and attended by Sports Minister Alexandra Benado, acting director of the National Sports Institute (IND), Israel Castro, and president of the Chilean Olympic Committee (COCh), Miguel Ángel Mujica. 

During the ceremony, the Sports Minister presented the Chilean flag to the leaders of the delegation. The flag will be used during the opening ceremony of the multisport event in which the fifteen countries that are part of the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR) will participate. Minister Benado stated, “this is a moment of happiness and emotion, since it is just before the competition starts. We hope that all of our athletes do really well in Asunción.” 

The Minister also commented that this delegation, made up of 539 athletes, is one of the largest in Chile’s history to participate in a large-scale sporting event. She explained, “we have a joint delegation, where there are a greater number of women. We are constantly working on this at many different levels.” State support for Team Chile’s preparation and participation at the event is more than 850 million Chilean pesos (US$855,000), which is awarded to COCh via IND. 

Chile’s representatives will compete in 34 sporting disciplines. Six guest athletes will also join the delegation, two in chess and four in paddle tennis. 

“For COCh, it is an honor that our country is taking its largest delegation in history to compete abroad. We know how much effort each athlete has put in to be here, especially when these South American Games will be our last great test before the Pan American Games in Santiago next year. Our delegation is made up of 273 women and 266 men, something that is a source of pride, which we hope to maintain in the future,” commented Miguel Ángel Mujica, president of COCh. 

The flag bearers 

Valentina Toro is 22 years old. She has practiced karate since she was seven, encouraged by her father, who is also a fan of the sport. She is adult Pan American champion, and was an under-21 world champion and six-time youth Pan American champion. She studies Civil Engineering at the Universidad de Santiago. She represented Team Chile at the Bolivarian Games a few months ago in Valledupar, where she won two gold medals. These are her first South American Games. 

Fernando Renz is 28 years old. He has played hockey since he was five, taking up the sport practiced by his parents. He plays as midfielder or forward. A Buiness Administration graduate from the Universidad de Chile, he has been selected for the national team since he was 13 years old. He played in the Toronto 2015 and Lima 2019 Pan American Games, and in the Cochabamba 2018 South American Games. He is captain of the “Devils”, who have historically qualified for the 2023 World Cup.