Alexandra Escobar

María Alexandra Escobar Guerrero (born 17 July 1980)

She ranked 7th in the Woman's 58 kg category at the 2004 Summer Olympics, lifting 215 kg in total. At Beijing 2008 she ranked 4th with 223 kg in total. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she finished 7th with a total of 226 kg. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she finished 4th (223 kg) and at the 2020 Summer Olympics she recorded a .

Escobar was the Ecuadorian flag-bearer in the opening ceremonies for the 2004, 2008 and 2020 Olympic Games.

Early life Escobar's parents struggled to support her, and soon sent her to be raised by her aunt Luisa Marquez. It was Luisa's daughter, Adela Marquez, who introduced Escobar to the sport of weightlifting. Her other finishes in the Olympics were 7th place in 2004 and 9th in 2012. After the disappointing finish in London, there was some speculation that Escobar would retire as she has spoken about an interest in coaching and studying sports science. She has also won four bronze medals, in 2001, 2003 and 2013. Her medals have all came in the 58 kg, 58 kg – snatch and 58 kg – clean & jerk events.

Controversy

In October 2003, Escobar threatened to boycott the World Championships that were being held in Vancouver, Canada later that year unless the governing committee canceled a twenty thousand dollar fine that was imposed on a fellow competitor.

Major results Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank 1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank Olympic Games 2004 Athens, Greece 58 kg 95.0 100.0 100.0 6 115.0 120.0 122.5 7 215.0 7 2008 Beijing, China 58 kg 96 96 99 2 120 124 127 4 223 4 2012 London, England 58 kg 100 100 103 2 123 127 127 8 226 7 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 58 kg 97 100 102 4 118 121 123 5 223 4 2020 Tokyo, Japan 59 kg 95 95 95 - - - - - - DNF World Championships 2001 Antalya, Turkey 53 kg 85.0 90.0 90.0 110.0 110.0 115.0 205.0 2002 Warsaw, Poland 53 kg 87.5 90.0 92.5 6 110.0 110.0 110.0 - - DNF 2003 Vancouver, Canada 58 kg 90.0 90.0 92.5 110.0 115.0 120.0 5 207.5 4 2006 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 58 kg 82 85 85 15 103 103 103 19 188 16 2007 Chang Mai, Thailand 58 kg 95 99 101 4 118 121 124 6 220 5 2010 Antalya, Turkey 58 kg 95 100 100 4 120 124 127 4 227 4 2011 Paris, France 58 kg 95 95 98 6 117 120 - 10 212 9 2013 Wrocław, Poland 58 kg 98 103 106 120 120 122 225 2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan 63 kg 100 104 105 11 122 127 127 14 227 13 2015 Houston, United States 58 kg 94 97 97 5 117 120 124 8 217 6 2017 Anaheim, United States 58 kg 93 96 99 5 116 119 122 218 5 2018 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 55 kg 91 93 95 5 113 116 116 6 209 7 2019 Pattaya, Thailand 59 kg 85 87 90 17 105 110 115 13 205 13 2021 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 59 kg 85 90 92 9 112 116 116 9 202 8