José Gregorio Peña Trejo (born 12 January 1987) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who specialises in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

. His personal best for the event is 8:20.87 minutes

Biography

Born in

San Cristóbal, Táchira San Cristóbal () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Táchira. It is located in a mountainous region of Western Venezuela. The city is situated above sea level in the northern Andes overlooking the Torbes River, from the Colombian ...

, he first established himself on the continental youth scene. His first international outing came at the 2002

South American Youth Championships in Athletics South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

, where he came fourth in the boy's 2000 metres steeplechase race. At the 2004 edition of the competition, he won the steeplechase

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

and also came fourth in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

and fifth in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

flat events. Moving up to the junior under-20 ranks, he ran at the

2005 South American Junior Championships in Athletics The 36th South American Junior Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio Municipal Jorge Newbery in Rosario, Argentina from October 1–2, 2005. Participation (unofficial) Detailed result lists can be found on the Atletismo Rosario ...

. There he won the 3000 m steeplechase

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 ...

behind Peru's

Mario Bazán Mario Bazán (born 1 September 1987 in Lima) is a Peruvian runner specializing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. Career He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics without reaching the final.2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2006 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held from 15 August to 20 August at the Chaoyang Sports Centre in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China. ...

, but did not progress beyond the steeplechase heats. In November 2006, he was the runner-up at the

2006 South American Games The VIII South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing, ...

(again to Bazán) and ran a national junior record time of 8:50.88 minutes. In Peña's first season as a senior athlete, he won 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 the steeplechase at the

2007 South American Championships in Athletics The 2007 South American Championships in Athletics were held at the Estádio Ícaro de Castro Mello in São Paulo, Brazil from 7 June to 9 June 2007. A total of 44 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 22 by female athletes. Continuing in ...

. He was also the runner-up at the 2007 ALBA Games event. He focused on longer distances in 2008, coming seventh in the

South American Cross Country Championships The South American Cross Country Championships is an annual continental cross country running competition for athletes from South America or, more specifically, member countries of CONSUDATLE. It was first held in 1986, making it the oldest of t ...

and winning the national title over

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

. At the

2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics The 2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (''Spanish: XIII Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo''), was an athletics competition which was held at the Estadio Tierra de Campeones in Iquique, Chile from June 13 to the 15th. A total of for ...

he came fifth in his specialist steeplechase event.José Gregorio Peña
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2 November 2011. His focus returned to steeplechasing in the 2009 season. He came second at the 2009 ALBA Games, fifth at the

World Military Track and Field Championships The World Military Track & Field Championships are the world championships of athletics organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). Initially an annual competition, the championships have been held on an irregular schedule since ...

, then ran a personal best of 8:36.17 minutes at the

2009 South American Championships in Athletics The 2009 South American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''2009 Campeonatos Sudamericanos'') was the forty sixth edition of the tournament and was held between 19 and 21 June in Lima, Peru. Brazil dominated the tournament, easily finishing w ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

– finishing just one second behind the host nation's Mario Bazán who broke the championship record. Two weeks later, he competed at the

2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics The 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships (Spanish: ''XXII Campeonato CAC Atletismo'') was the twenty second edition of the tournament and was held between 3 and 7 July in Havana, Cuba. Event summary The host country Cuba dominated the ...

and won the silver medal. He won the 2010 Venezuelan steeplechase title, but missed the rest of the track season that year. At the 2011 South American Championships in Athletics, Peña missed out on a steeplechase medal for the first time, coming in fifth place. A month later, he ran a personal best of 8:34.90 minutes at the

2011 Military World Games The 2011 Military World Games ( pt, Jogos Mundiais Militares de 2011), officially known as the 5th CISM Military World Games ( pt, V Jogos Mundiais Militares do CISM), was hosted from July 15–24, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 5th Military ...

and was eighth in the event final. At the end of July he won the title at the 2011 ALBA Games. The

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

saw him achieve his best finish to date, taking the Pan American gold medal ahead of Brazil's

Hudson de Souza Hudson Santos de Souza (born February 25, 1977) is a Brazilian middle-distance runner who competes mostly over 1500 metres. He has broken a number of South American records in middle-distance events. He has won twice at the South American Cr ...

with a tactical sprint finish.José Peña logró la undécima dorada
.

Últimas Noticias ''Últimas Noticias'' is a daily newspaper in Venezuela, currently British-owned and characterized by ''The Guardian'' as a "pro-Maduro tabloid". ''Últimas Noticias'' was founded in Caracas on 16 September 1941 after the pro-freedom measures i ...

Venezuela (28 October 2011). Retrieved on 2011-11-02. This achievement followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Néstor Nieves, who won the same event in 2003. Peña served as the flag bearer for Venezuela at the opening ceremony of the 2014 South American Games.José Peña
nbcolympics.com

Personal bests

*1500 m: 3:44.06 min –

Eagle Rock Eagle Rock may refer to: Entertainment * "Eagle Rock" (song), a hit single in 1971 by Australian band Daddy Cool * "Eagle Rock", a song by Motörhead * Eagle Rock Entertainment, a record label Places * Eagle Rock (formation), in California * Eag ...

, 4 May 2013 *3000 m: 7:54.42 min –

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

, 26 August 2013 *5000 m: 13:47.25 min –

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, 29 March 2013 *3000 m steeplechase: 8:20.87 min NR –

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, 1 September 2013

International competitions

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pena, Jose Living people 1987 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games People from San Cristóbal, Táchira Venezuelan male steeplechase runners Venezuelan male middle-distance runners Venezuelan male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Venezuela Pan American Games gold medalists for Venezuela Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Venezuela Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 South American Games South American Games gold medalists for Venezuela South American Games silver medalists for Venezuela South American Games medalists in athletics Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Venezuela Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century Venezuelan people