Colombia at the Olympics

History

One Colombian national, Francisco Henríquez de Zubiría, competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics before the advent of rules tying all participants to National Olympic Committees. Henríquez de Zubiría was born in and lived in Paris and competed for a French club in the tug of war event, and is often listed as competing for France.{{cite book|author=Rivas, Fernando Arrechea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=noBUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65|title=1900. La Primera Aventura Olímpica Española|year=2009

A Colombian delegation attended the Olympic Games for the first time in the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles, with only one athlete: Jorge Perry. Perry sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee in January 1932 in which he sigma introduces himself; described Colombia as "a little South American country aiming to grow its sporting structure and willing to be part of the olympic

movement", and expressing his desire to take part in the then upcoming competition. The following month, Perry received an answer from the IOC. Fearful of being rejected, he slowly opened the letter. But surprisingly for him his request not only was accepted, but also help was offered for him before and during competition. On July 30, 1932, he paraded in the opening ceremony representing a country not affiliated to the IOC back then. He competed in the marathon, but after ten kilometers was unable to finish and the race was won by Argentina's Juan Carlos Zabala. Fourteen years later in 1946, Colombia's first olympian dies in Bogotá, 4 days after suffering a motorcycle accident near his native Samacá. For the 1936 edition of the Games, the Comité Olímpico Colombiano was already created and sent five athletes to compete in Berlin. After the controversial decision to replay a football match between Peru and Austria (after an adverse result for the Austrians), the Colombian delegation left the olympic village as a sign of support to the Peruvian team. After the conclusion of World War II, the 1948 London Olympics were held and the Colombian contingent for the first time included athletes from sports other than track and field, taking part in fencing and swimming. Due to financing problems and a then ongoing violent period, Colombia did not take part in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. For the Melbourne Games in 1956, the Colombian team expanded from a few competitors to 26 athletes, sending cyclists and weightlifters for the first time. Colombian athletes continued participating at the Olympics since then without missing a Summer edition of the Games, sending females athletes to compete for the first time at the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City.

Colombia won their first olympic medals at the Munich Olympics in 1972, forty years after making its debut in the games. The first one was a silver medal won by shooter Helmut Bellingrodt in the 50 metre running target event, both Clemente Rojas and Alfonso Pérez won each one a bronze medal in boxing at those games too, bringing the medal tally for the Colombian delegation to a total of three medals.

Colombia did not join the US-Led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, although the then President of Colombia Julio Turbay initially supported the boycott. The then president of Comité Olímpico Colombiano Fidel Mendoza did not abide the president's recommendations and gave green light to 23 Colombian athletes to participate. They won no medals in Russia. Competing in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, shooter Helmut Bellingrodt won his second silver medal in the same event he won his first medal back in 1972, making him the first Colombian athlete to won two Olympics medals; his medal was the only one the Colombian contingent won at those Games. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, another Colombian boxer won a bronze medal: Jorge Eliécer Julio made it to the Bantamweight category semifinals and faced Bulgaria's Aleksandar Khristov; the Colombian was seen as dominating his opponent, but in the end three out of five judges declared the Bulgarian as winner of the bout, prompting protests from fans who were attending the boxing competitions at that moment. Ximena Restrepo became the first Colombian woman to win an Olympic medal, by winning a bronze medal in the women's 400 m. at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She found out she won a medal minutes later after crossing the line. Her 49.64 seconds mark still stands as the South American record for that event. The country failed to win a medal at the 1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, although marathon runner Carlos Grisales ranked eleventh in the men's event, the highest position a Colombian athlete has ever achieved in an olympic marathon race so far. The story was different four years later in Sydney 2000, as Weightlifter María Isabel Urrutia won the nation's first olympic gold medal at the 75 kg. category. Urrutia lifted the same weight than silver and bronze medal winners Nigeria's Ruth Ogbeifo and Taiwan's Kuo Yi-hang respectively, but she won gold due her body weight being less than that of her rivals. Señal Colombia broadcast her victory and when the event ended, the narrators mistakenly believed she won bronze as they saw on screen the results of the clean and jerk phase. Seconds after, the final results were screened and they realized their error and Urrutia's accomplishment. When the Olympic Games returned to Greece in Athens 2004, the Colombian delegation collected two bronze medals through weightlifter Mabel Mosquera and cyclist María Luisa Calle,{{Cite web

At the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Colombia won four silver and one bronze medals. Mariana Pajón added silver to her two previous golden medals earned in BMX racing, achievement that made her the first Colombian sportsperson to win three olympic medals. Sandra Arenas became in the first race walker from the country to win an Olympic medal, as she ranked second in the women's 20 km. event.

Medal tables

Medals by Summer Games

Medals by Winter Games

Medals by summer sport

Medals by gender

List of medalists

Multiple medalists

References

References

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5. (August 10, 2011). "Hace 75 años Perú se retiró de Berlín 36 tras "humillar" a Hitler".
6. [http://www.coc.org.co/all-news/colombia-en-los-olimpicos-2-londres-1948/ Colombia en los olimpicos Londres 1948] coc.org.co {{dead link. (January 2024)
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9. (April 17, 2020). "Colombia at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games".
10. (April 17, 2020). "Colombia at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games".
11. [http://www.coc.org.co/all-news/colombia-en-los-olimpicos-6-mexico-1968/ Colombia en los olimpicos Mexico 1968] coc.org.co {{dead link. (January 2024)
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33. "Medallist loses bronze after failed test". BBC Sport.
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35. (2018-02-09). "Con ruanas y sombreros, la delegación colombiana desfiló en PyeongChang".
36. (2018-02-07). "Olympic joy warms Colombian skaters in chilly Gangneung". Reuters.
37. (2021-07-30). "La historia de Mariana Pajón en sus tres medallas en Juegos Olímpicos".
38. Cali, Casa Editorial El País. "Sandra Lorena Arenas recibió la medalla de plata de los 20 kilómetros marcha - Juegos Olimpicos Tokyo 2020".