Érick Bernabé Barrondo García (born 14 June 1991) is a

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

racewalker Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asses ...

who competes in the 20 km walk and 50 km walk events. He won 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, ...

at the Men's 20 km Racewalk in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the first Olympic medal in Guatemala's history.

Early life

He was born in Aldea Chiyuc in the municipality of

San Cristóbal Verapaz San Cristóbal Verapaz () is a town, with a population of 20,961 (2018 census), and a Municipalities of Guatemala, municipality (population 68,819 at 2018 census) in the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz. It is located approximately 29 km ...

Alta Verapaz Department Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, an ...

, Guatemala. Initially, Barrondo competed in

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running come two di ...

events, following in the footsteps of his parents. However, he sustained an injury and was introduced to racewalking as a method of recovering. He decided to give up running and focus on walking instead. He began working with Rigoberto Medina, a Cuban coach who had trained the 2003 Pan American champion Cristina López.Robinson, Javier Clavelo (24 October 2011)
Guatemala sweeps 20Km Race Walks, da Silva takes Marathon gold - Pan American Games, Day 1

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved 2011-11-02.

Career

Barrondo made his international debut at the 2011

Pan American Race Walking Cup The Pan American Race Walking Cup (''Spanish: Copa Panamericana de Marcha'') is a biennial race walking competition for athletes representing countries from the Americas, organized by the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA). It was establish ...

, where he claimed the

in the 20 km with a time of 1:25:56 hours. Competing in the 2011 IAAF World Race Walking Challenge tour, he came in 13th at the

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; , ), locally referred to as just Sesto (), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy. It was awarded with the honorary title of ''città'' (city) by decree of 10 Apri ...

race and then improved his personal best by over four minutes at the Dublin Race Walking Grand Prix, coming in fourth place with a time of 1:20:58 hours. As a result of this performance, he was selected to represent

at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

, being one of only two entrants from his country, alongside fellow walker

Jamy Franco Jamy Amarilis Franco Núñez (born 1 July 1991) is a Guatemalan racewalker. Cuban coach Rigoberto Medina has worked with her since 2010. Biography Born on 1 July 1991, in Santa Rosa, Franco is the daughter of former Olympic race walker Ev ...

. In the World Championships 20 km race, he came in tenth place with a time of 1:22:08 hours and was the second best performer from the Americas, behind

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 ...

Luis Fernando López Luis Fernando López Julio (born 15 October 1964) is a Bolivian businessman, retired military officer, and politician who served as minister of defense from 2019 to 2020. Appointed in the tail end of the 2019 political crisis, López, along wi ...

who came third. At the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

in October, he and Jamy Franco completed a Guatemalan double in the men's and women's 20 km walks. Barrondo won the gold medal in a time of 1:21:51 hours, seeing off a challenge from World Championships medalist López. He walked to a personal best in the 20 km at the 2012 Memorial Mario Albisetti, taking third place in 1:18:25 hours.

2012 Summer Olympics

In the London Olympics of 2012 he won Guatemala's first ever Olympic medal. He came in the second place in the 20 kilometers race with the time of 1:18:57, just eleven seconds behind China's Chen Ding, who set a new Olympic record. In the 50 kilometers race he was disqualified by the judges. Barrondo has participated in the Olympics of 2016 and 2020.

Personal life

After the world championships that took place in Moscow in August 2013, he married racewalker Mirna Ortiz. Barrondo, the first Olympic medalist in Guatemala's history, is of

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

descent. In April 2015 radio commentator Julio Reyes was widely criticized after making racist comments online regarding Barrondo's heritage.

Personal bests

Achievements

References

External links