Edgar Baumann

On 21 March 1995, Baumann threw a distance of 78.70 metres at the 1995 Pan American Games in Argentina. He won a silver medal, finishing behind Cuban thrower Emeterio González, who threw 79.28 metres. Baumann's result of 78.70 metres was the then South American record, surpassing Colombia's thrower Luis Lucumi's throw of 77.80m which was held since 1989.[5] He was the only Paraguayan to achieve a medal in athletics at the competition.

"It is difficult to make such an important mark in South America, more being Paraguayan. It is extremely difficult because of adversities." – Said Baumann, among these obstacles he mentioned the lack of support and the directors of his time[12]

In the same year, he threw 72.90m in Sweden at the World Championships, attending the competition again with Cuba's Emeterio González, who reached 76.54m.[13]

Baumann was one of eight track and field athletes at Texas State University who were close to competing at the '96 Olympics.[14]

On 17 October 1999, Baumann threw a distance of 84.70 metres during an encounter in San Marcos, Texas.[15] The result of 84.70 metres increased his continental record for a fourth time, overtaking temporary record holder and compatriot Nery Kennedy's throw of 81.28m metres in 1998, Baumann reached an IAAF ranking of 6th in the world and he qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.[6]

One day before the national delegation traveled to the Sydney Games, Baumann endured sickness and was hospitalized for five days.[16] He did not travel and the Paraguayan Olympic Committee sent Nery Kennedy to the Olympics, resulting in Baumann suing the Olympic Committee for 2 million US Dollars for moral damage.[16] Baumann and tennis player Rossana de los Ríos were left out of the delegation, confirmed by Ramón Zubizarreta, the president of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee.[17]

In an interview with Paraguayan newspaper ABC in 2011, Nery Kennedy recalled that he was called up for the Olympics "at the last minute".[18] The president of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, Ramón Zubizarreta, said that Edgar Baumann was separated from the team that competed in the Olympic Games for doping cocaine and amphetamines. Baumann said that the alleged doping tests in question were declared "false and irrelevant" in the trial he filed against the authorities of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee. Baumann also denounced an alleged poisoning attempt when he recalled that the then president of the Paraguayan Athletics Federation, Francisco Rojas Soto, allegedly gave him contaminated water to drink before feeling bad during an exhibition. He added that he did not pass out at the track, he departed on his own and went to the hospital on his own to ask for toxicology tests.[19]

The scandal robbed Edgar Baumann of his right to participate at the Sydney Olympics without any justification, and Nery Kennedy who ultimately finished in 33rd place with a maximum distance of 70.26 m. The qualification mark was set at 83.00 metres,[20] whilst Kennedy had not been ranked within the IAAF top 50 in 1999 nor 2000 in order to qualify.[21][22]

The incident took a process of 9 years for Edgar Baumann to correctly sue the Olympic Committee, Paraguayan figure José Luis Chilavert backed Edgar Baumann in 2008 and 2009 to fight against the corruption in Paraguayan sport and condemned the actions of the then president of the Olympic Committee, Ramón Zubizarreta, should be expulsed from the Olympic Committee for hurting athletes and not giving them benefits.[7][8][9] The former captain of the Paraguayan national team also had a lawsuit with Zubizarreta.[19] José Luis Chilavert, along with Claudio Escauriza, Tomás Orué and lawyer Alejandro Rubin, attended a Press Conference at Asunción Shopping Centre Shopping del Sol, in support of Baumann when he eventually had received a favorable ruling from the Paraguay Supreme Court in a case against the Paraguay Olympic Committee president Ramón Zubizarreta for robbing him the right of competing at the 2000 Summer Olympics and also taking his sums of money that he earned from his scholarship.[23]

Several years later, Ramón Zubizarreta was investigated and had files charged against him for the punishable acts of trust and appropriation in 2015.[24] In 2016, the mayor of San Bernardino in Paraguay filed a report for the shortage of 3. 840 million Paraguayan Guaraníes of his predecessor, Zubizarreta.[25]