María Isabel Urrutia Ocoró (born 25 March 1965) is a former

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, athlete and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. She won the first ever gold medal for

at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

Athletic career

Background

Initially she competed in

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

, and participated in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in these events.

Weightlifting

She switched to

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

in 1989, and won silver at the 1989 World Championships. She won gold at the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, silver

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, gold

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, silver

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, bronze

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, silver

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, and bronze at the

1998 World Weightlifting Championships The 1998 World Weightlifting Championships were held in Lahti, Finland from November 10 to November 15, 1998. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Ranking by Big (Total result) medals Ranking by all medals: Big (Total result) and Small (S ...

. Urrutia won a gold medal in the women's 75 kg class in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, her country's first Olympic gold medal.

Personal life

Urrutia retired after the 2000 Olympics and entered politics. She held a seat in the

Chamber of Representatives of Colombia The Chamber of Representatives (Spanish: ''Cámara de Representantes'') is the lower house of the Congress of Colombia. It has 172 members elected to four-year terms. Electoral system According to the Colombian Constitution, the Chamber of ...

from 2002 to 2010 (twice elected: 2002 and 2006).

Achievements in track and field

References

External links

*
databaseolympics.com profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Urrutia, Maria Isabel 1965 births Living people People from Valle del Cauca Department Cabinet of Gustavo Petro Colombian sportsperson-politicians United People's Movement (Colombia) politicians Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Colombian female discus throwers Colombian female shot putters Colombian female weightlifters Olympic athletes for Colombia Olympic weightlifters for Colombia Olympic gold medalists for Colombia Olympic medalists in weightlifting Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games Competitors at the 1986 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games Weightlifters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1999 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Colombia Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists in weightlifting Pan American Games silver medalists for Colombia Pan American Games weightlifters for Colombia South American Games gold medalists for Colombia South American Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 1982 Southern Cross Games Competitors at the 1994 South American Games World Weightlifting Championships medalists Afro-Colombian women Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games 21st-century Colombian politicians 21st-century Colombian women politicians Petro administration cabinet members Women government ministers of Colombia Bolivarian Games gold medalists for Colombia Bolivarian Games medalists in athletics World Games gold medalists for Colombia Medalists at the 1997 World Games