President Ollanta Humala affirmed Peru is making progress in its preparation towards hosting the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.
The Head of State also highlighted the outstanding participation of the Peruvian athletes Gladys Tejeda and Francisco Boza in the current Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
"Peru is setting everything up for the [next] Pan American Games. Now, we have the responsibility to prepare ourselves for the 2019 Pan American Games. This way, we will be able to continue making progress in the training of our high-performance athletes," Mr. Humala expressed.
During the current administration the investment in sports promotion has been higher, compared to others carried out in the last decade, by setting aside more funds to the Education Ministry's budget, Peru's top official said.
It must be noted the Peruvian Sports Institute (IPD) is attached to the Education Ministry.
Currently, 3.5% of the GDP is invested in education, whereas none of the previous governments invested over 2.9% in the aforementioned sector, he reminded.
"We want to continue investing. We've created a sports scholarship to prepare the young athletes [...]," the President added.
He congratulated Gladys Tejeda for obtaining a gold medal in the 2015 Pan American Games' women's marathon and therefore having broken a record.
Likewise, the President cheered up the decision by Peruvian swimmer Mauricio Fiol, who requested his B-sample to be tested.
After winning a silver medal in the Men's 200m Butterfly swimming category last week, Fiol's results had tested positive for doping.
Mr. Humala highlighted the increased budget has allowed to "recover" the full-day school system at 1,000 schools, as well as the physical education subject.
Finally, he underlined the creation of High-Performance Schools in 13 regions of the country, which include the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme; a first stage to be later established in all Peruvian regions.
(END) MDV/CCR/RGR