Jacinta Sandiford Amador (9 April 1932 – 1 January 1987) was an Ecuadorian female track and field athlete who competed in the high jump.

[2] She took up athletics and in her teens she won the gold medal at the inaugural Pan American Games in 1951,[3] recording a height of 1.46 m (4 ft 9+1⁄4 in) and beating out Chile's Lucy López and Brazilian Elizabeth Müller on countback.

[2] She remained the only South American woman to have won that title until Solange Witteveen of Argentina did so in 1999.

[4] Upon the Ecuadorian delegation's return, Sandiford was the first athlete off the plane which led to images of her receiving national attention.

[5] Her career came to a close shortly afterwards, however, as a result of a leg injury and acute apendicitus.