Athletes Mario Guerra and Yenny Contreras will go to the Colombian city of Cali on Wednesday to represent Chile in the taekwondo Pan-American Olympic Qualifier, which awards a place in the 2008 Beijing Games to the top three in each category.

 

Guerra, who won a silver medal in the 68kg category at the South Korea Open, reached the third round of the Paris Open, defeating rivals from France and Britain, but then pulled out due to a knee injury.

 

"I did not want to put myself at risk ahead of the Olympic Qualifier," Guerra, 23, told media. "I am going to Cali confident of winning a place." In his last Pan-American competition, in 2002, Guerra won a bronze.

 

Contreras, who won bronze in the 49kg category at the Paris Open, has been Pan-American champion in 1998, 2002 and 2004, but has never won an Olympic place.

 

"For Sydney in 2000 the two top Olympic qualifiers went to the Games and I won third place. For Athens in 2004 the top three World Cup places went to the Games and I came fourth. So I am going to go for it in Cali," she said.

 

The only time Chile competed in taekwondo in the Olympics was in Sydney.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2007)