Jacinta Sandiford

Jacinta Sandiford Amador (9 April 1932 – 1 January 1987) was an Ecuadorian female track and field athlete who competed in the high jump.

Jacinta Sandiford
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Ecuador
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place1951 Buenos AiresHigh jump

Born in the Eloy Alfaro area of Durán, Ecuador,[1] she was the daughter of an Englishman who worked as an engineer for Ecuador's state railway.[2] She took up athletics and in her teens she won the gold medal at the inaugural Pan American Games in 1951,[3] recording a height of 1.46 m (4 ft 9+1⁄4 in) and beating out Chile's Lucy López and Brazilian Elizabeth Müller on countback. This made her Ecuador's first ever medallist at the competition.[2] She remained the only South American woman to have won that title until Solange Witteveen of Argentina did so in 1999.[4]

Upon the Ecuadorian delegation's return, Sandiford was the first athlete off the plane which led to images of her receiving national attention.[2] That same year she also won high jump gold at the Bolivarian Games with a mark of 1.47 m (4 ft 9+3⁄4 in), and is still the only Ecuadorian to have won that title.[5] Her career came to a close shortly afterwards, however, as a result of a leg injury and acute apendicitus.[2]

References
  1. Mujeres que han hecho historia. El Universo (2004-03-08). Retrieved on 2018-01-13.
  2. Jacinta Sandiford Amador. El Universo (2011-11-24). Retrieved on 2018-01-13.
  3. Jacinta Sandiford, la primera medallista tricolor. El Universo (2007-07-30). Retrieved on 2018-01-13.
  4. Pan American Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2018-01-13.
  5. Bolivarian Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2018-01-13.
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