Luisa Elizabeth Valverde Melendres (born 4 July 1991) is an Ecuadorian freestyle wrestler. She is a two-time gold medalist at the South American Games (2018 and 2022) and a bronze medalist at the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile. She also won medals at the Pan American Wrestling Championships.
Career
Valverde won one of the bronze medals in the women's 51kg event at the 2010 South American Games held in Medellín, Colombia.
Valverde won the gold medal in the 55kg event at the 2014 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Mexico City, Mexico. At the 2017 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Lauro de Freitas, Brazil, she won one of the bronze medals in the 53 kg event.
In March 2020, Valverde competed at the Pan American Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Ottawa, Canada hoping to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She did not qualify at this tournament and she also failed to qualify for the Olympics at the 2021 World Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Valverde won the silver medal in her event at the 2021 Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov Tournament held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. In May 2021, she won the silver medal in the women's 53 kg event at the 2021 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Guatemala City, Guatemala. A month later, she was able to qualify to represent Ecuador at the 2020 Summer Olympics after qualified wrestler Pak Yong-mi of North Korea was no longer able to compete. Due to COVID-19, North Korea's decided to withdraw entirely from the 2020 Summer Olympics. She competed in the women's 53kg event. She won her first match against Maria Prevolaraki of Greece and she was then eliminated in her next match by Bat-Ochiryn Bolortuyaa of Mongolia.
Two months after the Olympics, Valverde lost her bronze medal match in the women's 53kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. She won the silver medal in her event at the 2022 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Acapulco, Mexico.
Valverde won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 Bolivarian Games held in Valledupar, Colombia. She was eliminated in her first match in the 55kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. She won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 South American Games held in Asunción, Paraguay.
Valverde won the silver medal in the women's 55kg event at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane 2023 held in Nice, France.
Valverde won one of the bronze medals in the women's 57kg event at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Tournament held in Alexandria, Egypt. She won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 Dan Kolov & Nikola Petrov Tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Two months later, she also won the gold medal in her event at the 2023 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Valverde won one of the bronze medals in the women's 57kg event at the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile. She defeated Betzabeth Sarco of Venezuela in her bronze medal match.
Valverde won a bronze medal in the women's 57kg event at the 2024 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Acapulco, Mexico. A few days later, at the Pan American Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico, she earned a quota place for Ecuador for the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France. She competed in the women's 57kg event at the Olympics. Valverde lost her second match against Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan and she was eliminated in the repechage by Hannah Taylor of Canada.
Achievements
YearTournamentLocationResultEvent2010South American GamesMedellín, Colombia 3rdFreestyle 51kg2011Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsRionegro, Colombia 3rdFreestyle 48kg2013Bolivarian GamesTrujillo, Peru 3rdFreestyle 51kg2014Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsMexico City, Mexico 1stFreestyle 55kg2015Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsSantiago, Chile 2ndFreestyle 55kg2016Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsFrisco, United States 2ndFreestyle 55kg 2017Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsLauro de Freitas, Brazil 3rdFreestyle 53kgBolivarian GamesSanta Marta, Colombia 3rdFreestyle 53kg 2018Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsLima, Peru 2ndFreestyle 53kgSouth American GamesCochabamba, Bolivia 1stFreestyle 53kg2019Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsBuenos Aires, Argentina 2ndFreestyle 53kg2020Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsOttawa, Canada 1stFreestyle 53kg2021Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsGuatemala City, Guatemala 2ndFreestyle 53kg 2022Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsAcapulco, Mexico 2ndFreestyle 53kgBolivarian GamesValledupar, Colombia 1stFreestyle 57kgSouth American GamesAsunción, Paraguay 1stFreestyle 57kg 2023Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsBuenos Aires, Argentina 1stFreestyle 57kgPan American GamesSantiago, Chile 3rdFreestyle 57kg2024Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsAcapulco, Mexico 3rdFreestyle 57kg2025Pan American Wrestling ChampionshipsMonterrey, Mexico 3rdFreestyle 57kg
References
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