Colombia honors Olympian Pajon, soccer star Falcao

 BOGOTA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Colombia on Tuesday honored its top athletes, including Olympic gold medal winner Mariana Pajon and soccer star Radamel Falcao Garcia.

Pajon, winner of the BMX cycling competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games, received Colombia's Best Athlete Award for 2012, while Falcao was named 2012's Person of the Year.

Pajon, 21, brought home from London only the second Olympic gold medal in the history of Colombian sports.

"I am really grateful to Colombia for this award, for voting for me. This award should be, in principle, for the 104 athletes who went to London 2012," said Pajon.

The second best athlete of the year went to Olympian Catherine Ibarguen, who won silver in the triple jump, as well as to Paralympic medal winners Elkin Serna (silver medal in marathon) and swimmer Moises Fuentes (silver medal in the 100-meter breast stroke).

Third place went to Olympic Games medalists Yuri Alvear (bronze in judo¹, 70-kg category), wrestler² Jackeline Renteria (bronze in 55-kg category), Oscar Munoz (bronze in taekwondo, 58-kg category), and BMX cyclist Carlos Mario Oquendo (bronze medal).

Soccer player Falcao was named Person of the Year at the same ceremony, though he couldn't be there due to his participation³ in the Spanish first division league.

During the ceremony, participants observed a minute of silence in tribute to Colombian goalkeeper Miguel Calero, who died from thrombosis last week in Mexico.

1 judo   

n.柔道

参考例句：

• The judo is a kind of fighting sport.柔道是一种对抗性体育活动。
• Which is more important in judo, strength or techniques?柔道运动中，力量和技术哪个更重要？

2 wrestler   

n.摔角选手，扭

参考例句：

• The wrestler tripped up his opponent.那个摔跤运动员把对手绊倒在地。
• The stronger wrestler won the first throw.较壮的那个摔跤手第一跤就赢了。

3 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。