Carmen Chalá

Carmen was born in the Ecuadoran province Carchi but at heart she is from Manabí.^[1] Her family has many athletes in it: older sister Eva, and younger sisters Diana and Vanessa have all been national judo team members.^[2]

Carmen Chalá was a national champion in athletics in shot put and discus throw. However, by 1995, realizing that there are not many chances to be a successful field athlete at an international level, she began learning and practicing judo. She was 29 years old, considered very late to begin an endeavor like that. Her older sister Eva Chalá inspired her to try judo as she was already involved in it herself; Eva later became a referee for the sport as well.^[2]

After only a month of judo training, Carmen became a national heavyweight champion. In the final, she defeated Olympian María Cangá, whom Carmen considered the nation's top female judo athlete.^[2]

Although her success has been primarily within South American contests, Chalá participated at three Olympic Games but won only one match, defeating Sandra Köppen of Germany at the 2004 Olympic Games. In 2009, she wanted to join in politics but later delayed her candidature.^{[citation needed]} She decided to continue as an athlete, aspiring to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, but she did not.