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, 30 of which were born in Ecuador. This makes Ecuador the birth place of the 64th most number of Athletes behind Tunisia, and Armenia.

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 46.80, 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 Daniel Castro

2. Daniel Castro (b. )

With an HPI of 40.63, Daniel Castro is the 2nd most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Their biography has been translated into 4 different languages.

Daniel Castro may refer to: Daniel Castro (baseball) Daniel Castro (archer) Daniel Castro (field hockey) Daniel Castro (footballer)

Photo of Brian Pintado

3. Brian Pintado (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 40.54, Brian Pintado is the 3rd most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 21 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 Álex Quiñónez

4. Álex Quiñónez (1989 - 2021)

With an HPI of 40.32, Álex Quiñónez is the 4th 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 Alexandra Escobar

5. Alexandra Escobar (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 34.77, Alexandra Escobar is the 5th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 12 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.

Photo of Rosa Chacha

6. Rosa Chacha (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 32.51, Rosa Chacha is the 6th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 9 different languages.

Rosa Alba Chacha Chacha (born 8 December 1982 in Ambato) is an Ecuadorian long-distance runner. She competed in the marathon at the 2012 Summer Olympics, placing 83rd with a time of 2:40:57, a seasonal best. She represented Ecuador at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Glenda Morejón

7. Glenda Morejón (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 32.25, Glenda Morejón is the 7th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 13 different languages.

Glenda Estefania Morejón Quiñónez (born 30 May 2000) is an Ecuadorian racewalker. On 27 July 2017, she won the 5000m category of the World U18 Championships, becoming the second female Ecuadorian athlete to do so.

Photo of Tamara Salazar

8. Tamara Salazar (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 30.66, Tamara Salazar is the 8th 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 Andrés Chocho

9. Andrés Chocho (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 30.04, Andrés Chocho is the 9th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 7 different languages.

Cristian Andrés Chocho León (born 4 November 1983) is an Ecuadorian race walker who competes in both the 20 km and 50 km walk events. He is the South American record holder in the 50 km (3:49:32 hours) and 20,000 metres (1:20:23.8 hours) walking events. Chocho was the 2011 South American Champion over 20 km and was the bronze medallist at the 2011 Summer Universiade. His best global level finish is eleventh over 50 km at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. He represented Ecuador at four Summer Olympics, won a gold medal in 50 km Walk in the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games, and is a seven-time participant of the IAAF World Race Walking Cup.

Photo of Piotr Kuczera

10. Piotr Kuczera (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 29.53, Piotr Kuczera is the 10th most famous Ecuadorean Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 9 different languages.

Piotr Kuczera (born 25 February 1995) is a Polish judoka. Kuczera is a 2016 European Judo Championships bronze medalist in the ‍–‍90 kg division.

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, Daniel Castro, and Brian Pintado. The most famous deceased Ecuadorean athletes include Álex Quiñónez. As of April 2024, 28 new Ecuadorean athletes have been added to Pantheon including Daniel Castro, Brian Pintado, and Alexandra Escobar.

Living Ecuadorean Athletes

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Deceased Ecuadorean Athletes

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Newly Added Ecuadorean Athletes (2024)

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