The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Ecuador

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This page contains a list of the greatest Ecuadorean Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 2 of which were born in Ecuador. This makes Ecuador the birth place of the 104th most number of Athletes behind Anguilla, and Qatar.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Ecuadorean Athletes of all time. This list of famous Ecuadorean Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Ecuadorean Athletes.

Photo of Jefferson Pérez

1. Jefferson Pérez (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 38.65, Jefferson Pérez is the most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.

Jefferson Leonardo Pérez Quezada (born 1 July 1974) is an Ecuadorian retired race walker. He specialised in the 20 km event, in which he won the first two medals his country achieved in the Olympic Games.

Photo of Álex Quiñónez

2. Álex Quiñónez (1989 - 2021)

With an HPI of 31.28, Álex Quiñónez is the 2nd most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Álex Leonardo Quiñónez Martínez (11 August 1989 – 22 October 2021) was an Ecuadorian sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He was shot dead on October 22, 2021 at age 32. He was the second runner to be murdered that month, alongside fellow bronze medalist Agnes Tirop. He won the 100 m and 200m at the 2012 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics, with his 20.34s national record in the 200 m qualifying him for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He ran a new Ecuadorian national record of 20.28 s in the heats of the 200 metres at the 2012 Olympics and qualified for the final, where he finished seventh. Quiñónez won the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in the 200 metres event. He qualified to represent Ecuador at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the 200m in Tokyo but was provisionally suspended for "whereabouts failures" less than a month before the games began.

Photo of Tamara Salazar

3. Tamara Salazar (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 20.30, Tamara Salazar is the 3rd most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Tamara Yajaira Salazar Arce (born 9 August 1997) is an Ecuadorian weightlifter. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo 87 kg Olympic competition, and both silver and bronze medals at the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships.

Photo of Diana Durango

4. Diana Durango (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 0.00, Diana Durango is the 4th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Diana Durango Flores (born 2 October 1988) is an Ecuadorian sport shooter. She won the silver medal in the women's 25 metres pistol event at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru. She also won two medals at the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile. In 2011, she competed in the women's 10 metre air pistol and women's 25 metre pistol event at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico without winning a medal. She represented Ecuador at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Photo of Marcela Cuaspud

5. Marcela Cuaspud (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Marcela Cuaspud is the 5th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Marcela Cuaspud (born 28 April 1995) is an Ecuadorian modern pentathlete. She competed in the women's event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Brian Pintado

6. Brian Pintado (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 0.00, Brian Pintado is the 6th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

Brian Daniel Pintado Álvarez (born 29 July 1995 in Cuenca) is an Ecuadorian racewalker, two-time Pan American Games champion and two-time Olympic Medallist.

Photo of Mehuli Ghosh

7. Mehuli Ghosh (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, Mehuli Ghosh is the 7th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Mehuli Ghosh (born 20 November 2000) is an Indian sport shooter. She represents India at international junior shooting championships across the world. Among 123 competitors, she was the only Indian shooting athlete to reach the finals of the 2018 junior shooting competition held in the Czech Republic. She ranked seventh there. In 2018, at the XXI Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast, Australia, she won a silver medal in Women's 10m Air Rifle after a shoot-off with Martina Veloso. As of September 2023, she was ranked 36th in the world and 14th in Asia.

Photo of Erika Mercado

8. Erika Mercado (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 0.00, Erika Mercado is the 8th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

Erika Andreina Mercado Chávez (born 27 February 1992), known as Erika Mercado, is a volleyball player who plays as an opposite spiker for the Portuguese club FC Porto.

Photo of David Farinango

9. David Farinango (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 0.00, David Farinango is the 9th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into different languages.

David Farinango (born 20 October 2000) is an Ecuadorian marathon swimmer. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Photo of Alexandra Escobar

10. Alexandra Escobar (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 0.00, Alexandra Escobar is the 10th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into different languages.

María Alexandra Escobar Guerrero (born 17 July 1980) is an Ecuadorian weightlifter. At the 2001 World Weightlifting Championships in Antalya, Turkey she won gold in the 53 kg category in the clean and jerk, bronze in the snatch, and the overall bronze medal with a total lift of 205 kg. She ranked 7th in the Woman's 58 kg category at the 2004 Summer Olympics, lifting 215 kg in total. At the 2006 World Weightlifting Championships she ranked 16th in the 58 kg category, and at the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships she ranked 5th in the same category, lifting a total of 220 kg. Escobar won the gold medal in the 58 kg category at the 2008 Pan American Weightlifting Championships. Escobar has competed five times at the Olympics in the women's 58 kg weight class. In the 2004 Summer Olympics she finished 7th with a 215 kg total. At Beijing 2008 she ranked 4th with 223 kg in total. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she finished 7th with a total of 226 kg. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she finished 4th (223 kg) and at the 2020 Summer Olympics she recorded a DNF. Escobar was the Ecuadorian flag-bearer in the opening ceremonies for the 2004, 2008 and 2020 Olympic Games.

People

Pantheon has 30 people classified as Ecuadorean athletes born between 1974 and 2000. Of these 30, 29 (96.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Ecuadorean athletes include Jefferson Pérez, Tamara Salazar, and Diana Durango. The most famous deceased Ecuadorean athletes include Álex Quiñónez. As of April 2024, 28 new Ecuadorean athletes have been added to Pantheon including Tamara Salazar, Diana Durango, and Marcela Cuaspud.

Living Ecuadorean Athletes

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Deceased Ecuadorean Athletes

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Newly Added Ecuadorean Athletes (2024)

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