Ángel Hernández Recalde (born 6 January 1995) is a Spanish-born

trampoline gymnast Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic Games, Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle posit ...

that represents Colombia. He is the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

champion in individual trampoline and the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

bronze medalist. He is a five-time champion at the Pan American Championships and the

2018 Central American and Caribbean Games The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia. Asamblea ODECABE, Islas Caimán' (translation: "CASCO Assembly, Cayman Islands"). Published by CACSO on 2012-10-27; retrieved 2012-11-13. Bidding process Quet ...

individual champion. He represented Colombia at the 2020 and

2024 Summer Olympics 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 ...

, finishing ninth and seventh, respectively. Hernández represented Spain at the junior level and won the 2012 Junior European individual title.

Early life

Hernández was born on 6 January 1995 in

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, Spain, to a Colombian mother. He started trampoline gymnastics at the age of six after following his sister into the sport. His sister, Katish Hernández, has also represented Colombia internationally in trampoline and won three medals at the 2019 South American Championships.

Gymnastics career

2012–2014

Hernández won the individual title at the 2012 Junior European Championships. He made his senior international debut at the 2012 Albacete

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and finished sixth. Hernández switched to competing for Colombia, his mother's birth country, in 2013, and moved to

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. The whole family moved from Spain to Colombia, and their coach José Miguel Cantos moved with them. He won the individual title at the 2013 South American Championships which were hosted in Bogotá. He also won a silver medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the

synchro A synchro (also known as selsyn and by other brand names) is, in effect, a transformer whose primary-to-secondary coupling may be varied by physically changing the relative orientation of the two windings. Synchros are often used for measuring ...

event. Hernández was on track to win the gold medal at the

2014 Central American and Caribbean Games The 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games were held November 14–30, 2014 in Veracruz, Mexico.Sport page< ...

, but a mistake on the final jump cost him the title. He then competed at his first

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in 2014, finished 43rd in the individual qualification round.

2015–2016

Hernández won a bronze medal at the

behind Keegan Soehn and Steven Gluckstein. He then competed at the 2015 South American Championships and won a gold medal in the synchro event with his brother-in-law, Alvaro Calero. They then finished 21st in the qualification round at the 2015 World Championships, and Hernández finished 23rd in the individual semifinal. Hernández failed to qualify for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. His coach then decided to move to the United States, so Hernández's mother began coaching him in

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

2017–2018

Hernández won gold medals in both the individual and syncho events at the

2017 Bolivarian Games The 2017 Bolivarian Games, officially the XVIII Bolivarian Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from 11–25 November 2017, in Santa Marta, Colombia. Host city selection Ciudad Bolivar (Venezuela) and Santa Marta (Colombia) ...

. He placed seventh as an individual at the 2017 Loule World Cup and eighth in the synchro event. Then at the Valladolid World Cup, he finished sixth in the individual event and eighth in the synchro event. Hernández won the silver medal in the individual event at the 2018 Pacific Rim Championships. He then won the gold medal at the

2018 South American Games The 2018 South American Games was a multi-sport event that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was the 11th edition of the ODESUR South American Games. A total of 373 sporting events are scheduled to be contested across a variety of sports. ...

, and he also won the individual gold medal at the

, where he also won a synchro silver medal.

2020–2021

During the start of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020, Hernández had surgery for an old knee injury. He returned to competition in 2021, winning the gold medal in the individual event at the 2021 Pan American Championships and qualifying for the Summer Olympics. Hernández represented Colombia at the 2020 Summer Olympics, held in 2021, and finished ninth in the

qualification round Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

, making him the first reserve for the final. He was the first trampoline gymnast to represent

Colombia at the Olympics Colombia first formally participated at the Olympic Games in 1932, and has sent athletes to compete in all but one edition of the Summer Olympic Games since then, missing only the 1952 Games. Colombian athletes have won a total of 38 Olympic m ...

. After the competition, he was temporarily stuck in Japan due to not meeting the required quarantine protocols. He criticized 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 ...

for a lack of organization and not purchasing the correct plane tickets for him.

2022–2024

Hernández led the Colombian team to a gold medal at the 2022 Pan American Championships, and he also won gold medals in the individual and synchro events. He also won an individual gold medal at the

2022 Bolivarian Games The 2022 Bolivarian Games (), officially the XIX Bolivarian Games Valledupar 2022, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Valledupar, Colombia from June 24 to July 5. It was the fifth time of the event in Colombia. Participating ...

. He then successfully defended his South American Games title. He qualified for the individual final at the 2022 World Championships, finishing seventh. Hernández won the individual gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Championships. He then won the gold medal at the

and received the continental berth for the

. Less than a week later, he traveled to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

for the 2023 World Championships. He made mistakes in the qualification round, finishing last out of all the competing athletes. Hernández represented Colombia at the 2024 Summer Olympics at the age of 29, making him the oldest competitor in the men's trampoline event. He qualified for the final in eighth place and ultimately finished seventh.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Angel 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Albacete Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Colombia Spanish male trampolinists Pan American Games bronze medalists for Colombia Pan American Games gold medalists for Colombia Gymnasts at the 2015 Pan American Games Gymnasts at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists in gymnastics Pan American Games gold medalists in gymnastics 21st-century Colombian sportsmen Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in gymnastics Colombian gymnasts Male trampolinists Bolivarian Games gold medalists for Colombia Bolivarian Games medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century Spanish sportsmen