WSU alum Maribel Caicedo won’t run in Tokyo due to dispute with Ecuador’s federation…

As we're en route to Tokyo, we just got word from former Washington State University sprint coach Gabriel Mvumvure that Maribel Caicedo (Paul Merca photo), a Paris Olympian for Ecuador, who finished second at the 2024 NCAA track and field championships for the Cougars, will not compete at the upcoming World Athletics Outdoor Championships in Tokyo.

Mvumvure, who is now the sprints coach at the University of Arizona, told paulmerca.blogspot.com that the Ecuadorian federation told her that if she wanted to compete at the world championships, that she was responsible for paying her flight to Tokyo.

Caicedo, who currently does not have a sponsor, told their federation that she wasn't going unless her way was paid.

Caicedo hasn’t raced much in 2025, competing at the Grand Slam Track meet in Miami (Miramar), the Music City Track Carnival in Cleveland, TN., the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis on July 12th, and the Last Chance Qualifier outside Atlanta on July 19th. She ran her season best of 12.70 at the Music City Track Carnival at the end of May. She tied the national record in the 60H on February 1, running 7.99 in Albuquerque.

At last year’s Olympics, she advanced to the semifinals after a rough start, where Caicedo finished eighth in the first round, and had to run in the repechage to advance to get to the semis. In the semis, she ran 12.67 to finish fourth, two places outside a berth in the finals.

She would have run in the first round of the 100 hurdles on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Tokyo), along with former Cougar Charisma Taylor, competing for the Bahamas.

When asked if she was injured, Mvumvure, who is still coaching her in Tucson, said that she was healthy and training under him.

In looking at the entries from Ecuador (click on the Qualifications link at the bottom of the homepage), they have six entries, including a marathoner, a discus thrower, and four race walkers, with one doubling in both the 20 and 35k walks. Curiously, no women are among its entries.

With her non-entry by the Ecuadorian federation, there are now 22 athletes with Washington ties competing at the world championships.

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