sports

Country to honor Saladino

Many government offices and public schools will be closed today in honor of Panama’s gold medalist.

Irving Saladino will touch down in Panama at 11 a.m., bringing with him the gold medal he won in China.

ALBERTO ESTÉVEZ/EFE

a long jump: Panamanian Irving Saladino flies through the air at the Olympic Games. He will receive a hero’s welcome upon his return to Panama today.1077347

Government offices and public schools will be closed today as the country welcomes back its first gold medalist, long jumper Irving Saladino of Colón.

The athlete arrived yesterday in Washington from Beijing, China where he was met by his parents, David and Cristina, who surprised him.

Saladino and his family will arrive in Panama City at about 11 a.m. On board presidential jet HP-1A. He will attend a press conference, then be taken to the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (ACP) administration building where the government is organizing a reception in his honor.

The ceremony will include the reading of several decrees, including one naming a sports facility in the Villa Deportiva in Juan Díaz after Saladino.

There will then be a caravan transporting Saladino and an entourage around Panama City to Chilibre, where he will board a helicopter to be flown to Colón.

According to a state press release, government offices will be closed “to make it easier for public servants to participate in the reception for Irving Saladino.”

Several entities, such as IDAAN, hospitals and health clinics, the Caja de Seguro Social and the Servicio Nacional de Migración will remain open.

Work began at the ACP administration building yesterday to prepare it for the ceremony.

Saladino received his gold medal Tuesday morning after winning the long jump on Monday.

He becomes Panama's second Olympic medalist, and the first to win a gold medal.

Saladino’s road to the medal, both before and during the Olympic competition was not easy.

After winning the event at the world championships last year, Saladino dominated the long jump at various international meets. But he suffered an injury near the end of the year that derailed his training.

After a layoff, Saladino struggled in meets held at the beginning of the year. But he quickly returned to form, setting a personal best of 8.73 meters at a meet in Holland in May.

That jump was one of the longest of all time, cementing Saladino’s reputation as one of the best in the world.

At the Olympic preliminaries, Saladino struggled, fouling on his first two attempts. He needed a clean jump on his third try, which he achieved. But he was only seeded ninth heading into the finals.

Any doubt about who would win the gold medal, however, was quickly erased as Saladino came to dominate the competition, earning the first gold medal in Panama’s history.