Cecilia Durán Villalta started shooting by the end of 2008, she had to make a pause in 2020 due to the pandemic, but she went back into the shooting range of the Jorge “El Mágico” González stadium in 2021, aiming to get a spot in the list of rifle athletes that will be competing in the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games 2023.
Times and scores are key for the San Vicente native, who aims to participate in her first Central American and Caribbean Games.
“I am motivated and excited to be part of the national team for the Central American and Caribbean Games”, the athlete from San Vicente said right after an arduous practice session with Johanna Pineda and Ana Ramírez, with whom she hopes to be in the firing range during the sports event that the country will be hosting for the third time in its history.
The Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023 will be held between June 23rd and July 8th, and shooting is one of the sports with a good forecast for medals.
About the available spots for the San Salvador 2023 Games, Verónica Rivas, rifle trainer of the Salvadoran Shooting Federation (Fesatiro by its Spanish initials), expressed “we will see which athlete is better prepared and has better performance: I just ask them to give their one hundred percent”.
Cecila maintains her focus to improve technical details and scores in every practice.
“The focus of the training is vital to reinforce certain aspects, the goal to achieve the qualifying scores is being established gradually. It will be an honor for me to participate in the San Salvador 2023 Games”, the 26-year-old athlete pointed out.
From Bodybuilding to shooting
At first, Cecilia was interested in bodybuilding, but she heard the constant shooting of the Fesatiro athletes at the shooting range of the Jorge “El Mágico” González Stadium.
“I wanted to know what was that all about, it made me curious from that moment. I went to get information, and I thought it would be a tedious process, but it wasn’t. By the end of 2018, I went in, without hesitation, and submitted the form”, Cecilia said.
Now, sports have become an important aspect in Cecilia’s life aspirations. “I liked shooting because of the focus and stability required, I thought it was interesting. Now my goal is to keep training to keep getting better at the sport”, she commented.
Villalta still has an academic dream to fulfill: getting her international relations degree.
“I am about to graduate, I am studying my final year of international relations at Universidad Francisco Gavidia. I was also working at ASDER in a radio project, and I took a course; I liked the world of communications, but I had to leave it to complete my graduation process”, she mentioned.