Alejandra Benítez Romero (born 7 July 1980) is a Venezuelan

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

fencer, who competed at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. She was minister of sports in 2013

Sports career

Benítez was born in a popular parish

Antímano Antímano is a district of Caracas, Venezuela. It is part of Libertador municipality. According to a 2007 estimate of the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, it had a population of 150,971 people in 2007. The name Antímano derives ...

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

district. She began fencing accidentally at the age of fifteen years old on the suggestion and good reference of one of her aunts, who knew coach Hildemaro Sánchez at the

Central University of Venezuela Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. The national Venezuelan team trained in the same fencing hall, which inspired her to work hard to join them. Besides fencing, Benítez also practiced ballet, ornamentals jumper, judo, and a little bit of music, swimming and volleyball. In 1996 the younger Sportler joined the national junior team. With them she took part in the first Junior World Championships for women's sabre held in 1999 in Dijon, France. They earned a gold medal in the team event after Venezuela prevailed successively over Italy, France and Germany. In the senior category she qualified to the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens through the zone qualifying tournament for the Americas; she was defeated in the first round by China's Zhang Ying. She won the Havana

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in 2005. She earned a bronze medal at the 2006 Pan American Championships in 2006–she would repeat this feat in 2008 and 2013. She

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing as one of the two-ranked American fencers. She received a bye, then lost to Poland's

Bogna Jóźwiak Bogna Jóźwiak (born 15 April 1983, in Poznań) is a Polish sabre fencer. Jozwiak represented Poland at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of Chin ...

. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, her third Olympic participation, she defeated Korea's

Lee Ra-jin Lee Ra-Jin (; born January 10, 1990, in Seoul) is a South Korean sabre fencer. She won a silver medal, as a member of the South Korean fencing team, in the same weapon at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Lee represented South Korea at ...

before losing to World No.2

Sofiya Velikaya Sofiya Aleksandrovna Velikaya ( rus, Софья Александровна Великая, , ˈsofʲjə vʲɪˈlʲikəjə; born 8 June 1985) is a Russian sabre fencer. Velikaya is a former European champion (four-time individual, six-time tea ...

Political career

Benítez met in 1999

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

, who made a strong impression on her. She supported him in several elections and featured in a TV sport for his presidential campaign. She also stood as honour guard at his funeral. On 22 March 2013 she was named Minister of Sports for the government of newly elected

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...

. She was replaced by singer and ex-baseball player Tony Álvarez in the January 2014 government reshuffle.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benitez, Alejandra 1980 births Living people Venezuelan sabre fencers Venezuelan female sabre fencers Olympic fencers for Venezuela Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Fencers from Caracas Pan American Games silver medalists for Venezuela Pan American Games silver medalists in fencing South American Games gold medalists for Venezuela South American Games medalists in fencing Fencers at the 2003 Pan American Games Fencers at the 2011 Pan American Games Fencers at the 2015 Pan American Games Competitors at the 2010 South American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 20th-century Venezuelan women 21st-century Venezuelan sportswomen Nicolás Maduro ministers Fencers at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists in fencing