History

Championship was born in Barcelona in 1983

Eight times champions Brazil leads in the overall medals

The 17th Ibero-American Championships in Athletics will be held from 14 to 16 May this year, the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Defined as the test event for the Rio 2016 Games, this will be the fourth time that a Brazilian city is hosting the event. Manaus organized the championship in 1990, the Rio de Janeiro itself did the event in 2000 and Sao Paulo in 2014.

The inaugural edition of the Ibero-American Championship was held in 1983 in the Catalan city of Barcelona, Spain. First, however, it had the intention to hold an athletic event with the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. In 1960 and 1962, the Ibero-American Games were played, which had the athletics tournament in the program and was attended by Brazilians.

In 1983, already with the Ibero-American Athletics Association (AIA) founded a year earlier, the dream was realized. Initially, the dispute would happen every two years. The second edition was scheduled for Santiago, Chile, in 1985. As the city gave up the seat, the championship was moved to Havana, Cuba. Since then, the frequency has been respected.

In the history of Ibero-American, three countries are: Brazil, Spain and Cuba. With the total of 492 podiums, Brazil is leading the general classification of the Championship. It is also the first in number of securities: 169 gold medals. The country has also 170 silver medals and 153 bronze. Second in total medals, Spain has 110 gold, 122 silver and 116 bronze, with 348 in total. Cuba already, with 300 podiums in general, is the second in golds, with 161 medals, in addition to another 90 silver and 49 bronze, and 300 in total.

The Brazilian team is the one that has more titles per team. It was eight times champion: in Manaus (AM) - 1990; Mar del Plata (Argentina) - 1994; Rio de Janeiro (RJ) 2000; Guatemala City (Guatemala) - 2002; Ponce (Puerto Rico) - 2006; Iquique (Chile) - 2008; Barquisimeto (Venezuela) - 2012; Sao Paulo (Brazil) - 2014.

Twenty-nine nations are affiliated to AIA and Championships together, on average, close to 400 athletes. Names of the first magnitude in world athletics have defended their countries in the competition. Among the record holders of the tournament, for example, are Brazilians as Robson Caetano da Silva, who scored 10 o'clock in the 100 m, Mexico, 1988; Eronilde Araújo, with 48.96 in the 400 m hurdles in Lisbon-1998; and Fabiana Murer, with 4.85 meters in the pole vault in San Fernando-2010.

Other historical athletes have their names in the tournament record frame. If the Cuban Javier Sotomayor, Olympic champion and world record holder in the jump height; the world jump champion Iván Pedroso distance; the runner Ana Quirot (400 m, 800 m); the world twice champion hammer release, Ypsi Moreno, among many others.

There is also the Spanish Nuria Fernandez, in the 1,500 m; Olympic champion of 10,000 m, Fernanda Ribeiro of Portugal; the Argentinean Germán Chiaraviglio in pole vault; Colombian Ximena Restreppo, the 400m hurdles; Mexican Carlos Mercenary, the march, the Chilean Gert Weil...

Participate in the Ibero-American Championships, athletes from Spain and Portugal, in addition to Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries of the American and Africa. Equatorial Guinea, where Spanish is the official language in Africa and Andorra, to speak Catalan in Europe, also part of the EIA, an organization recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which has the Brazilian Roberto Gesta de Melo is as president.

Ibero-American countries: Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Republic Dominican, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Santo Tomé and Principe, Uruguay and Venezuela.