Carlos Erick Zegarra Presser
Sport shapes people, and shaping people is how you build a better country.
I have seen what sport does for a person. It builds character, teaches discipline and respect, keeps a child away from the wrong path and gives them a future, and with that child a whole community. I learned it in competition, where results come from honest, sustained work, and that same conviction guides my leadership. To lead is to serve, with clear processes and the trust of the people. My most valuable work happens around the mat: creating the conditions for others to come in and grow, and leaving institutions stronger than I found them.
“One opportunity can change an entire life.”
“Citizens first, then champions.”
“Merit is always shared.”
In numbers
It all began on the tatami.
Judo came first. I defended Peru in the heavyweight category and carried its colors to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, having trained in Castelldefels with a woman coach in my corner, a rare sight back then. Before that I had reached the Pan American podium in Rio 2007, Peru's first judo medal at a Pan American Games, and later I won the Apia World Cup in 2010. I earned twelve national titles and tested myself against the best in the world, including Kosei Inoue. Every contest taught me something that stays with me to this day.
The 7th Dan I carry as a responsibility: to pass on what judo gave me. Being an Olympian is my root, and everything I do today grows from that experience.
From competitive to competent.
In 2013 I assumed the presidency of the Peruvian Judo Federation, and for seven years we worked to strengthen it and raise its level. In 2018 that effort was recognized as the best federation management in the country, the work of a team that chose to put its house in order and place the athlete at the center. Since 2021 I have had the honor of presiding over the Pan American Judo Confederation, and in 2025 our federations renewed that trust unanimously through 2029.
Four pillars guide this chapter: development, unity, transparency and peace. I build so that institutions work beyond any individual and so that every decision can be understood and followed. It is a collective commitment to the present and the future of judo.
The milestones.
Where the future of sport is decided.
Presiding over the Pan American Confederation carries with it the Vice Presidency of the International Judo Federation. From there I drive the development of judo across the region and bring major events closer to our nations: Lima has earned a place on the world map. I served as International Technical Official at Rio 2016, and the European Judo Union named me Hero of the Year in 2026, a recognition that belongs to an entire team. I carry it with pride in being Peruvian and with the certainty that sport unites.
Putting experience at the service of the country.
The State has been another teacher. As Executive Director of the Legado Special Project I care for and develop the infrastructure the Pan American Games left to Peru, so that it keeps welcoming athletes long after the final event. A legacy is measured by what endures and by what it keeps giving.
Earlier I served at the Peruvian Sports Institute and the Ministry of Education, in high performance, physical education and school sport. There I confirmed something essential: sport grows from the ground up, with system and continuity, and that foundation sustains those who come next.
The same starting point for every Peruvian.
I dream of a country where a girl from the highlands or the rainforest finds the same mat and the same teacher as in the capital, and where talent, wherever it is born, has a path. Sport is a school of life, and I want that school to reach everyone, so that the next generations inherit firm foundations and a place prepared for them. That is the legacy that moves me: to open the door and hold it open, because when a child grows with sport, a whole country grows.
Let's talk.
I welcome federations and institutions that want to build sport with a long-term vision. If we share that purpose, write to me.