Ana Waleska Soto Abril (born 14 August 1990) is a Guatemalan sport shooter and former softball player.[3] She competed in the women's trap event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[4] She qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics by winning the gold medal at the 2024 CAT Shotgun Championship in Santo Domingo.

Waleska Soto
Soto in 2024
Personal information
Full nameAna Waleska Soto Abril
NationalityGuatemalan
Born (1990-08-14) 14 August 1990 (age 34)
Guatemala City, Guatemala[1]
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[2]
Other interestsPilot and a Sports Psychologist
Sport
CountryGuatemala
SportSports shooting
Rank19
Coached byPedro Martin Fariza

Waleska Soto started out as a softball player, winning a bronze medal with the Guatemalan national team at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico,[1] although she learned the sport of shooting as a teenager through a summer camp.[5] She earned a scholarship to play softball at Martin Methodist College in the United States,[6] where she began shooting again.[1]

Soto competed in both sports at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, winning a silver medal in the women's trap event.[1] She won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2017 Bolivarian Games, and placed fourth at the 2019 Pan American Games to qualify for the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics.[1] She won Gold at the 2022 Bolivarian Games, celebrated in Valledupar. She won the Silver medal at the 2023 Central American and the Caribbean Games. The same year, she won Silver at the 2023 Pan American Games. In 2024, Soto won the Gold medal at the 2024 CAT Shotgun Championship in Santo Domingo.

On 3 July, 2024, the Guatemalan Olympic Committee chose Soto and badminton player Kevin Cordón to be the country’s flag bearers at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Biografía de Waleska Soto, tiradora guatemalteca". Guatemala.com (in Spanish). 22 April 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Waleska Soto, Directo Al Sueño Olímpico" (in Spanish). Guatemalan Olympic Committee. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Ana Waleska Soto". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Shooting - Qualification - Day 1 Results". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  5. ^ García, Rodrigo (29 June 2020). "El tiro y sóftbol, las dos disciplinas que marcan la historia de Waleska Soto". ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Ana Waleska Soto Abril". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. ^ Ordonez, Oscar (3 July 2024). "Kevin Cordón y Waleska Soto abanderados de Guatemala para Juegos Olímpicos París 2024" [Kevin Cordón and Waleska Soto, Guatemala's flag bearers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games]. Prensa Libre (in Spanish). Guatemala City, Guatemala.
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Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for   Guatemala
París 2024
With: Kevin Cordón
Succeeded by
Incumbent