John Trebejo is one of the best karatekas in the kata discipline. With more than 20 years of experience, he has represented Peru in World, Pan American, Bolivarian and South American Championships.

His latest achievement was at the Series A tournament, held in Montreal, Canada, where he won the silver medal together with Carlos Lam and Oliver del Castillo.

He is now focusing on the Pan American Games.  “We’re training harder each day and, during these four weeks, we’re working double time to do our best in the competition,” said John.  

Teamwork

John, Carlos and Oliver have been competing together for some time. It takes a lot of work and effort to be 100% in sync.

“We continue to learn every day. We’ve had some difficult months that we were able to overcome, nut now we’re united and focused on the same goal,” said Trebejo.

His goal is to win the gold medal, the ultimate prize for any athlete. “That’s our goal. It’s quite a challenge, but we’re ready. We need to achieve this goal,” said the karateka who considers Argentina, Colombia and Brazil as his direct rivals.

Kata competitions are decided by points, just like gymnastics. It is important to note that it does not entail a fight, it is an imaginary fight that must be synchronized and contain techniques that make the difference.  

Karate will be held at Villa El Salvador Sports Center. For John, competing on a new stage and in his home country is a unique motivation. “I’ve only seen the sports center in photos, but I know that the atmosphere we’re going to experience and the dream of signing the national anthem will be indescribable,” he said.  

The kata competition will be held on August 9. Ticket sales can be purchased at www.lima2019.pe/tickets or authorized points of sale throughout the city.

The Peru-Italia 7095 school is located just a few blocks away from the Villa El Salvador Sports Center. The students of this school already know that the Pan American and Parapan American sports competitions will take place in this new facility on July 26 and that is why they are ready for the Lima 2019 Games.

“Our students are very excited and we are carrying out several activities such as story-writing, led by the students. They’ve realized that the Lima 2019 Games have made a change in their district and they’re fascinated,” said Maria Isabel Sulca, a teacher at the school.

These activities help the children discover new sports such as “swimming or cycling, because there’s a difference between learning about a sport, and feeling motivated and practicing it,” noted the teacher.

During this visit, students had the opportunity to meet Milco, the official mascot of the Games, and participate in the socio-cultural program prepared by Lima 2019 to promote Olympic and Paralympic values through sports.

“This is a very interesting and educational activity, and it successfully passed the messages along to the students, because an athlete is disciplined, respectful and punctual; that is, they have many values that will be useful throughout their lives. Therefore, sports are closely related to values, and that’s what we need to encourage,” pointed out James Meza, school principal.  

Thirty-one days away from the Pan American Games, motivation starts to play an important role for students who play football, handball and volleyball, as well as practice athletics and gymnastics. 

“We are very motivated because, first, Lima is hosting and, second, because the Pan American Village and many sports are nearby. We feel very lucky, because we will be able to see well-known athletes, as well as learn about countless sports that can be very useful for their personal and social development,” concluded the principal.

The Villa El Salvador Sports Center will house gymnastics, which will take place from July 27 to August 5, and karate, from August 9 to 11.

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