Colombian skating, protagonist in the nominations for el espectador's athlete of the year

ODYTA Summary

Colombian skating is once again prominent in El Espectador's Athlete of the Year awards after the nominees for the 2026 season were announced across the ceremony's categories. Skating representatives appear in the senior, youth, team, coaches and executive categories, including world champions in artistic and speed skating and the president of the Colombian Skating Federation, Alberto Herrera Ayala. Among the senior nominees are Brayan Carreño Ceballos (artistic skating), Kollin Andrea Castro Mosquera and Santiago Vásquez Villarreal (speed skating). The youth nominees are Jeshua Folleco Garzón (artistic) and Gisell Alejandra Caicedo Arango (speed). The Colombia Speed Skating National Team is nominated in the team category after winning its 23rd overall world speed skating title at the World Skate Games in Asunción, Paraguay, with 18 gold, 14 silver and six bronze medals, reaching 16 consecutive world titles. Elías del Valle is nominated in the coaches category, and Alberto Herrera Ayala in the executive category. The text attributes to Herrera Ayala's management 14 of the country's 23 world speed skating titles and cites overall world titles in speed skating and inline downhill, plus medals at world championships in artistic skating and junior women's inline hockey. It states Colombia finished second in the overall standings of the World Skate Games in Asunción and that the Colombian Skating Federation was the country's most decorated federation at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, with 15 gold, six silver and three bronze medals. It also says the federation organized the Pan American Club and Nations Speed Skating Championships, which drew 6,500 athletes from 20 countries.