Ángel Gabriel Barajas Vivas (born August 12, 2006) is a Colombian

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. He is the first Colombian gymnast to win an Olympic medal, earning a silver medal on the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syst ...

at the

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. Barajas is also the

2022 South American Youth Games The 2022 South American Youth Games (Spanish:''Juegos Suramericanos de la Juventud''), officially the III South American Youth Games, was an international multi-sport event held in Rosario, Argentina, from April 28 to May 8. It was the first tim ...

champion and the 2023 Junior World all-around silver medalist.

Early life

Barajas was born in

Cúcuta Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the East ...

Norte de Santander Norte de Santander (Spanish for Northern Santander) () is a department of northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. Norte de Santander is bordere ...

, to Angélica María Vivas and Wilson Barajas. He has two older siblings. His father left the family when Barajas was six years old. He attends the

Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International The Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International (, CGMJCI) is a Christianity, Christian, Charismatic Christianity, neo-charismatic, Restorationism, restorationist church network. It was created in 1972 by the evangelical preacher Luis Ed ...

. When Barajas was three years old, he began imitating

Sportacus Sportacus 10 () is a fictional character from the Icelandic children's television show ''LazyTown'', created and portrayed by Magnús Scheving. His name in English is a portmanteau of the ancient figure Spartacus and the word sport, which repres ...

, a character from the Icelandic television show ''

LazyTown ''LazyTown'' () is an Icelandic children's educational musical television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage health ...

'', who performed flashy handstands and backflips on the show.

Junior gymnastics career

Barajas began gymnastics training when he was five years old, at a local club in

. His older brother, Jeisson, worked two jobs to pay for Barajas' gymnastics training. Since 2018, Barajas has been training with the Norte de Santander Gymnastics League alongside gymnasts like

Jossimar Calvo Jossimar Orlando Calvo Moreno (born 22 July 1994) is a Colombian artistic gymnast, part of the national team. At the 2015 Pan American Games he won three individual gold medals, becoming in the first Colombian to do so. He competed at the 2016 S ...

. In 2019 Barajas joined the Colombian Sports Ministry's ''Athletic Excellence program'', which paid him a monthly salary.

2021

In 2021, Barajas competed at the Junior Pan American Championships, where he helped Colombia secure second place as a team. Individually, he won bronze medals in the all-around,

floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, considered an apparatus. The floor exercise (English abbreviation FX) is the event performed on the floor, in both women's and men's artistic gymnastics (WAG and MAG). The same flo ...

, and horizontal bar, and he claimed gold on the

pommel horse The pommel horse, also known as vaulting horse, is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal bo ...

2022

In late April, Barajas participated in the

South American Youth Games The South American Youth Olympic Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Suramericanos de la Juventud''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos da Juventude'') is a regional multi-sport event organized by the Organización Deportiva Suramericana (ODESUR). The games a ...

, leading Colombia to team gold. He individually won gold in six of the seven events, missing out only on rings. In July, at the Pan American Championships, he helped Colombia finish fourth as a team. Individually, he won gold on the horizontal bar, silver in the all-around, floor exercise, and vault, and bronze on parallel bars.

2023

In late March, Barajas competed at the second Junior World Championships as the lone male Colombian delegate. On the first day, he qualified for the all-around final in first place and also made it to the finals for floor exercise, parallel bars, and horizontal bar. In the all-around final, he won silver, finishing behind Qin Guohuan of China. In the apparatus finals, Barajas secured gold medals on floor exercise and parallel bars, and a bronze on horizontal bar. With four medals, he left

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

as the most decorated athlete.

Senior gymnastics career

2024

Barajas became eligible for senior competition in 2024. He made his senior debut at the Cairo World Cup in mid-February, where he qualified for the parallel bars and horizontal bar finals. He won bronze on the horizontal bar, finishing behind Tang Chia-hung and

Joe Fraser Joe Fraser (born 6 December 1998) is an English artistic gymnast. He is the 2022 European all-around and parallel bars champion and the 2019 world champion on the parallel bars. He is the first British gymnast to ever win gold in these event ...

, and placed eighth on parallel bars. At the conclusion of the World Cup series, Barajas earned an individual Olympic berth for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. At the Olympic Games, Barajas competed in the parallel bars and horizontal bar. During

qualifications Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) is a procurement process established by the United States Congress as a part of the ''Brooks Act'' and further developed as a process ...

, he qualified for the horizontal bar final and was the third reserve for the parallel bars final. On the final day of competition for artistic gymnastics, Barajas scored 14.533 on the horizontal bar—the highest score of the day. However, he lost the execution score tie-breaker to

Shinnosuke Oka is a Japanese Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is the Gymnastics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's artistic individual all-around, 2024 Olympic all-around champion, as well as a member of the Japan men's national gymnastics team, Jap ...

, earning the silver medal. This achievement made Barajas the first Colombian gymnast to win an Olympic medal. After winning the Olympic silver medal, Barajas was awarded a full scholarship to attend the

University of Santander The University of Santander (UDES) is a private research university, approved by the Colombian government through the Ministry of Education, according to legal status 810 1996; organized under the provisions of Act 30 of 1992. This university has ...

and was also given an apartment in Cúcuta. For his Olympic feat Barajas was named ''Athlete of the Year'' by the

Colombian Olympic Committee The Colombian Olympic Committee (COC; ) is the governing Olympic body of Colombia. Its mission is the coordination of efforts to protect the Olympic movement and consolidate its development, compliance with the rules of the Olympic Charter and ...

Competitive history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barajas, Angel 2006 births Living people Colombian male artistic gymnasts 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Sportspeople from Cúcuta Medalists at the Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Colombia Olympic medalists in gymnastics Olympic silver medalists for Colombia Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Ministerialists Miraists