The story of the first woman to win a gold medal for Ecuador will hit theaters nationwide on Saturday, November 9. This is a documentary Neisi, the power of sleepwhich features 25-year-old Ecuadorian weightlifting champion Neisa Dajomes and her journey over the past eight years.

The film follows the steps of the athlete since 2015, the year in which she won the silver medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto, an award she won when no one believed she would return to the platform, because after her second attempt in the clean and jerk modality, she fell and he began to convulse.

The film captures the most emotional and important moments of his life, such as life with his brother Javier, his inspiration in weightlifting, his relationship with his mother Orfelina and his decision to separate from her to live with coach Walter Lleren, his mentor and second father, who is something later adopted Angie Palacios, Neisa’s younger sister.

Poster for the documentary film ‘Neisi, the power of sleep’. Photo: Courtesy

The title also refers to the loss of her two family members in the middle of competition and training, which, although it knocked her down, did not prevent her from pursuing her big dream: winning the long-awaited Olympic gold.

Neisi pauses during his unstoppable exercises and approves of this interview.

Neisi Dajomes’ documentary will premiere in cinemas in the country on November 9

How was the change from dealing with heavy weights to the lights and cameras of the film?

Since I was little, I’ve been used to always having her with me every day. Thank God, since I started this sport, at the age of 11, at the age of 12 I had the first international competition where I had the chance to win. From there, the media knew me, people knew me. They always did interviews with me, filmed my training sessions, my daily life. So, I got used to it a bit.

Who was your biggest inspiration in this sport?

My biggest inspiration was my mom and brother. My brother because he was the first in my family to start lifting weights. My mother always taught us to fight, to fight for our dreams. All this was led by my coach Aleksey Ignatov, with whom I won an Olympic medal.

What goes through your mind when you see you have a movie coming out?

WoofThe truth is that it motivates me a lot and I am very grateful for the production. If these filming had not started eight years ago, today we would not have the opportunity to see all this on the big screen. I never imagined that doing something I love would change my life so much and that people would recognize me today as they do now, and to the extent that I would have the opportunity to be on the big screen.

Neisi Dajomes, winner of the Olympic medal in weightlifting, with Irina López and Daniel Yépez, producer and director of the film “Neisi, the power of sleep”, after training in the San Francisco University of Quito gymnasium, in Cumbayá. Photo: Alfredo Cárdenas

Neisi Dajomes and Tamara Salazar were among the guests in ‘MasterChef Ecuador’

Can you remind us what happened in 2015 when he fell and started convulsing after the inspection? What happened there?

It was at the Pan American Games in Toronto 2015. It was my first games and I was 17 years old. Until that moment, it was the most important competition in my career. I actually had this event because I was losing weight; I had to lose about two kilos and after weighing I had to eat. Unfortunately, there was no proper nutrition in the competition; I had to compete practically like this, with a fainting spell, and an attack at the same time. My coaches at the time didn’t want me to go out in the second attempt, but I told them I could. I recovered and went out for the other two moves that I missed, and thank God we managed to get silver in those matches.

Did you have any difficult moments during filming that you can tell us about?

The hardest tests we had to go through along the way were losing my brother Javier, who was the one who started weight training, and then losing my mother the following year. However, a month after my mother’s death, we had the Pan American Games in Lima 2019. I say that these were the most difficult tests in my personal life and in my sports life that God could have given me, but thanks to him we were able to overcome them; well, i’m not saying get overbecause although loss is never overcome, one learns to live with it, one learns to live with its absence.

Neisi Dajomes when he won the Olympic gold medal for Ecuador in weightlifting, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Photo: Courtesy

Neisi Dajomes and Angie Palacios, ‘on the road’ to the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

What was your strength to face those difficult times?

I always say that it was God, because at that moment I had everything to say: “I’ve come this far and I’m not giving any more.” But God gave me that strength, that supernatural strength to keep fighting, to keep training, to keep going on my solid path, which is to reach the Olympic Games, which were less than a year away.

And what was the most unusual moment that this career gave you?

That’s when I got the gold medal. It was the happiest moment of my life, sports career, personal and family life. It was the greatest achievement he could achieve.

After this cinematic experience, did you perhaps think that you could do cinema?

Not. I think that this is our first experience with filming, that we really hope, trust and believe that this documentary will have a much better reception and that, God willing, it can later be on other platforms so that people can see it too.. That’s the dream of both productions and mine.

What kind of emotion did Angie Palacios’ gold medal at the last Pan American Games evoke in you?

We watched their competition. For me, she is now my sister who motivates me, who gives me the strength she often said I gave her. She is now very focused on this classification; that’s very nice. From the bottom of my heart, I always wish him the best of luck, continue with the world record he has. He is in a pretty good position in the world and I think he will do his best now for the next Olympics.

Neisi Dajomes, Olympic medalist in weightlifting, during training at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito gym, in Cumbayá. Alfredo Cárdenas/ EL UNIVERSO. Photo: Alfredo Cárdenas.

Neisi Dajomes: I didn’t plan to set records, I’m adopting my new category

How do you feel about being called ‘power girls’ alongside Angie, Tamara Salazar and Lisseth Ayoví?

(Laughter). It’s something we deserve. Despite everything, we showed that, as women, as women of African origin, as Ecuadorians, as Latin Americans, we can give and we did that in every participation for our country.

How did you see Richard Carapaz’s teamwork to help Jhonatan Narváez win gold at the Pan American Games?

Although these are topics that do not concern me, I think it was a wonderful strategy. I really liked when they finished the race and Richard was congratulating, he did everything to make sure his partner made it too. This is something worthy of admiration, because in sports there is also brotherhood and not asking for someone to always be the first, but also a feeling of pride and happiness due to the results that the partner has.

Which important person would you highlight in your career?

I want to thank my Ecuadorian people, invite them to participate in our documentary film Don’t come, sleep well, which will be published on November 9 this year. Also thanks to the production; Irene (López, producer of the film) and Daniel (Yépez, director), thank you for everything, because I never thought that I would be doing something that I love, doing something that I enjoy, well, today I will have so much. (AND)