Ecuador has one Olympic gold medal. If you know anything about Ecuador, or other South American countries, particularly Andean countries, you might guess that medal is in the sport of soccer, or tennis, or golf, or even volleyball. It is, in fact, in the slightly less-followed sport of Speed Walking. Jefferson Pérez won gold in Atlanta in 1996. There is a legend that he won the gold, then walked home, which is partially true. He flew back to Quito and walked 285 miles back to his home city of Cuenca. And Ecuador loves him. There are things named after him everywhere, particularly in Cuenca, but even in Quito. My favorite one, though, is the Trole (trolley) station. If your’e riding the Trole, you’re obviously not walking, so it has always seemed to me an ironic choice of monuments. Jefferson Pérez kept going back to World Championships and Olympics through 2008 and placing and medaling to let everyone know this wasn’t just a fluke. But that Trole stop to me is almost like the whole country of Ecuador saying to this hero of an obscure sport, “we want to celebrate… but we’re just not quite sure what to do with you.”
All throughout the Eastertide scriptures, Jesus keeps appearing to the disciples. And they’re never quite sure what to do with him. But he proves who he is, he tells them he’s not a ghost, and he comforts them with familiar imagery. I would guess that Jefferson Pérez looks at his namesake station and says “I’d rather walk.” But I know that Jesus looks at us and says “I’d rather walk with you.” May we walk with him.
