Diego Lizardi Marcial (October 10, 1975 – February 21, 2008) was a Puerto Rican

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

specialized in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

. During his career, Lizardi represented

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

in several international tournaments including two

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. On February 21, 2008, Lizardi died in a car accident when his car struck a parked truck on the back. The circumstances of the accident are still being investigated.

Biography

Diego Lizardi Marcial was born in

Hato Rey, Puerto Rico Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" ( ...

. In 1981, while 6 years old, he started studying at the Gymnastic School in

Cupey Cupey is one of the 18 barrios of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico located in the mountainous area of the municipality. It is the largest barrio or district in the San Juan and the third most populous with 36,058 inhabitants according ...

. Later, he studied at the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has c ...

Hato Rey Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" ( ...

. He started rising as a gifted gymnast winning several national

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in "All Around" competitions. From 1988 to 2001, he gathered 13 championships in various levels. In 1990, Lizardi participated in his first international competition at the 1990

Central American Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Ce ...

and

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Games held in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The Puerto Rican team rose in this tournament with the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

. In 1993, he rose with the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

at the same tournament, this time held at

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

. He also has won 9 world championships during this period. In 1996, he participated at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, finishing at the 64th spot. He participated again at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. In 2003, he was selected as

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

for the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

held at

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. After retiring as a competitive athlete, Lizardi continued collaborating with the Puerto Rico Gymnastics Federation while he created private gymnastics training centers throughout Puerto Rico. Lizardi died February 21, 2008, in a late night car accident when his car struck a parked truck. At the time, he was working to open another gymnastics school for kids in Puerto Rico's third largest city, Ponce. Hundreds of Puerto Ricans attended funeral services at the Puerto Rico Olympic Headquarters in Old San Juan where, in the presence of Lizardi's widow and parents, acting Governor

Fernando Bonilla Fernando J. Bonilla Ortiz (born 1962) is a Puerto Rican political figure who served as the 21st Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Bonilla also served as the Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Ports Authority. As Secreta ...

declared him to be Puerto Rico's "Eternal Standard-Bearer" ("El Eterno Abanderado") and then Puerto Rico Senate President

Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s Na ...

made a commitment to appropriate the funds necessary to hold the International Gymnastics Competition that Lizardi proposed to hold in 2009 in San Juan in his last conversation with McClintock's wife, San Juan Sports and Recreation Director

María Elena Batista María Elena ("Mari") Batista is a former sports administrator in Puerto Rico. As the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico's longest-serving Director of Sports and Recreation from January 2001, to January 2012, she helped revive the previously underuse ...

. Then Sports and Recreation Secretary

David Bernier David Enrique "Quique" Bernier Rivera (; born January 21, 1977) is a Puerto Rican dentist and politician that has served in various roles in public service in Puerto Rico. Bernier first served as executive director of the Office of Youth ...

seconded the senator's proposal. Lizardi's body was later cremated. In June, 2008, at the request of

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico ( es, Senado de Puerto Rico) is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control th ...

President

, Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman

Migdalia Padilla Migdalia Padilla Alvelo is a Puerto Rican politician and Senator. She has been a member of the Senate of Puerto Rico since 2000. Early years and studies Migdalia Padilla was born in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. Her parents are Monserrate Alvelo ...

and former Senate President

Antonio Fas Alzamora Antonio "Tony" J. Fas Alzamora (born November 16, 1948) is a Puerto Rican politician and Senator. As of 31 December 2011, he was the longest-serving legislator in the history of Puerto Rico, having served in ten Legislative Assemblies, one Hou ...

, the Puerto Rico Legislature appropriated $25,000 for a statue of Diego Lizardi to be placed at the Puerto Rico Sports Museum in

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico Guaynabo (, ) is a city, suburb of San Juan and municipality in the northern part of Puerto Rico, located in the northern coast of the island, north of Aguas Buenas, south of Cataño, east of Bayamón, and west of San Juan. Guaynabo is spr ...

Awards

Central American and Caribbean Games

1990 - Bronze with team * Ponce 1993 - Silver in

Floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

1998 - Gold in

Still rings The rings, also known as still rings (in contrast to flying rings), is an artistic gymnastics apparatus and the event that uses it. It is traditionally used only by male gymnasts, due to its extreme upper body strength requirements. Gymnasts oft ...

Pan American Games

* Cuba 1991 - Fourth place with team * Winnipeg 1999 - Bronze in Still rings

Iberoamerican Championship

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

- Gold medal

International Cup

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

1997 - First place in Still rings, Floor, and "All Around"

References

External links

USA Gymnastics International Athlete BiographyLizardi's Career
at

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News about his death
at Primera Hora {{DEFAULTSORT:Lizardi, Diego 1975 births 2008 deaths Puerto Rican male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1999 Pan American Games Gymnasts at the 2003 Pan American Games Gymnasts at the 1996 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Puerto Rico Road incident deaths in Puerto Rico Pan American Games medalists in gymnastics Pan American Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games