Inés Melchor

Inés Melchor (born August 30, 1986 in Acobambilla, Huancavelica) 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.

Inés Melchor

Inés Melchor at the 2012 Summer Olympics Marathon
Personal information
Full name	Santa Inés Melchor Huiza
Nationality	Peruvian
Born	(1986-08-30) 30 August 1986 Acobambilla, Huancavelica
Height	1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country	Peru
Sport	athletics
Event(s)	Long-distance running
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Half marathon: 1:14:3 Marathon: 2:26:48
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Peru South American Championships 2009 Lima 5000 m 2009 Lima 10,000 m Pan American Games 2011 Guadalajara 5000 m
Updated on 29 July 2013.

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

• 1500 m: 4:30.78 – Alcalá de Henares, 4 July 2004
• 3000 m: 9:28.44 – Sherbrooke, 9 July 2003
• 5000 m: 15:30.63 NR – Trujillo, 28 November 2013
• 10,000 m: 33:07.75 – Lima, 6 October 2013
• Half marathon: 1:12:31 – Medellín, 8 September 2013
• Marathon: 2:26.48 NR - Berlin, 28 September 2014

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, Ontario, 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	Sao 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, Perú	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, Perú	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, México	3rd	5000 m	16:41.50
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	25th	Marathon	2:28:54
2013	Bolivarian Games	Trujillo, Perú	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
2018	South American Games	Cochabamba, Bolivia	1st	10,000 m	35:57.86

References

1. "41 BMW Berlin-Marathon". 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.
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. 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. 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, 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
31. "Women's Marathon: Results". London 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
32. AIMS June 2013 Results. 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.

• Inés Melchor at World Athletics
• London Summer 2012 site
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Inés Melchor". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02.