DAJOMES BARRERA Neisi Patricia

General
MEDAL DEDICATION
She dedicated her gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, to her mother, who passed away two months before the event. "I will never overcome my mother's loss, but as an athlete I must continue fighting to fulfil my dreams. My mother used to call me before every competition and asked me to compete with my heart. And although she is no longer present I will keep her advice in my mind." (radiocre.com, 30 Jul 2019; teradeportes.com, 30 Jul 2019; infocancha.com, 29 Jul 2019)

SIBLING RIVALRY
She says she is happy to also have her sister Paola Palacios in the sport. "She is my younger sister, the one I have watched growing in weightlifting since she was a child, so I am proud to be able to compete with her. I am really happy when she gets medals, especially at 2019 Pan American Games where I also got a medal." (radiocre.com, 30 Jul 2019; teradeportes.com, 30 Jul 2019; eloriente.com, 07 Mar 2019)

SURNAME
She participates with a different surname - Dajomes Barrera - to her siblings, who go by Palacios Dajomes. At age 12, Neisi qualified for an international event in the United States of America. To secure a visa, she required permission from both of her parents, but with her father outside of Ecuador, her mother changed her name to speed up the process. "Surnames do not make us more or less sisters. We are daughters of the same father and the same mother and we look like them so no one could deny us." She admits she is unlikely to take her father's surname again. "The formalities are not so easy and nowadays, everybody recognises my name as it is." (primicias.ec, 03 Feb 2020; elcomercio.com, 14 Nov 2017)

At the 2018 World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, she became the first female Ecuadorian lifter to win a medal in the newly introduced 76kg category when she claimed bronze in the snatch lift, and combined total score. (SportsDeskOnline, 08 Jun 2021)