200m World bronze medalist Alex Quiñonez murdered in Ecuador

News broke on Saturday that world 200m bronze medalist, Alex Quiñonez, was murdered in his native Ecuador in the city of Guayaquil.

The 32-year-old was reportedly shot multiple times by unknown assailants along with his friend, Jogyro Alcala. 

Quiñonez finished third in the 200m in Doha two years ago, becoming the first Ecuadorian athlete to win a world medal at a track event. He ran his personal best of 19.87 in the 200m in 2019 in Lausanne, Switzerland, setting a new national record for Ecuador, and was also the national record-holder in the 100m and the 400m.

Unfortunately, Quiñonez was unable to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games after he was suspended for violating the rules of whereabouts information.

“Today we lost a great athlete, someone who made us dream, made us excited. With deep pain, we confirm the murder of our athlete Alex Quiñonez in the city of Guayaquil,” the Ecuadorian Ministry of Sports said in a statement on Twitter.

Quiñonez is not the first athlete this month who has been murdered. Two-time world 10,000m bronze medalist, Agnes Tirop of Kenya was killed earlier this month by her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, who has now been arrested and taken into custody.

The exact circumstances surrounding Quiñonez’ death are still unknown, and an investigation into his murder is still ongoing. The news has sparked an outpouring of grief across the country, with many calling on the Ecuadorian police to take action against the recent surge in violence throughout the nation.

posted Monday October 25th
by Brittany Hambleton