On June 9, 1997, in Marinilla, Antioquia, a woman was born who understood early on that sports are practiced not only with the body but also with the soul. Mar\u00eda Carolina Vel\u00e1squez Soto, now 28 years old, has turned every stroke, every pedal, and every stride into a declaration of love for life, discipline, and the dreams that seem impossible\u2014until someone decides to reach them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her journey in triathlon did not begin with great medals, but with the curiosity of combining her passions for swimming and athletics into a single event. Since then, triathlon has become both her path and her school: it has placed difficult obstacles in front of her, but it has also given her the happiest moments of her life. With that resilient character forged in Antioquia, Carolina went from being a young athlete with Olympic dreams in 2014 to fulfilling them in a big way at Paris 2024, where she became an Olympic triathlete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her achievements speak of a brilliant career: gold at the 2025 Pan American Championship in Chile, gold at the 2025 World Cup in Huatulco, medals in the Americas, Australia, Venezuela, and Cuba; along with victories at the Pan American, South American, and Bolivarian Games. But behind every title lies a greater story: that of a woman who never stopped believing, even when the road was tough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carolina is also a psychologist, convinced that sports and knowledge are two wings needed to fly higher. Her purpose goes beyond records: she wants to inspire girls and young women who, like her, dream of reaching the very top. \u201cTriathlon taught me that life always asks a little more from us, but also that the reward is immense when we fight with our hearts. My Olympic dream is also a collective dream, for those who believe that sports can transform destinies,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Fraternidad Medell\u00edn Foundation, we celebrate her journey and proudly stand by her goal. Because when Carolina runs, pedals, and swims, she does not do it alone: she carries with her the strength of Marinilla, the pride of Antioquia, and the hope of an entire country. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
El 9 de junio de 1997 naci\u00f3 en Marinilla, Antioquia, una mujer que desde muy temprano entendi\u00f3 que el deporte no solo se practica con el cuerpo, sino tambi\u00e9n con el alma. Mar\u00eda Carolina Vel\u00e1squez Soto, hoy con 28 a\u00f1os, ha convertido cada brazada, cada pedalazo y cada zancada en una declaraci\u00f3n de amor por […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8570,"template":"","categoria":[18],"class_list":["post-8569","eventos","type-eventos","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categoria-noticia"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 03:05:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"categoria","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos\/8569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/eventos"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos\/8569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8571,"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventos\/8569\/revisions\/8571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categoria","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fraternidadmedellin.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categoria?post=8569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}