Grijalva carries with him the Central American nation’s hope of obtaining a gold medal in the Olympic Games for the first time.
The 24-year-old distance runner will participate in the penultimate day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the event that will be held between July 26 and August 11.
Grijalva was born in Guatemala, but he has lived his entire life in the United States, since his parents immigrated with him when he was only one year old.
He has just been to Guatemala for the first time, completing a week-long visit in which he was received in style, meeting with President Bernardo Arévalo and inaugurating a race track in a sports center.
All this does not seem to penetrate its simplicity.
“I’m just someone who runs fast,” he told The Associated Press in an interview during his last day in Guatemala.
“I want to meet the people of Guatemala, it is my country,” he added. “I was born here, my father and mother lived here, we have a lot of family history here. My family is Guatemalan, I wanted to run for them, for my family and for all of Guatemala.”
Until this trip to Guatemala, Grijalva had only had the opportunity to leave the United States for official competitions, doing so as a “dreamer.” He received special permission for being part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a United States immigration policy that delays the deportation of people who arrived on American soil as children.
Grijalva says that he is now happy after having been granted a 0-1 visa, which is reserved for people with extraordinary abilities or achievements in science, arts, education, business or sports, which will facilitate their participation in competitions outside the United States. Joined.
“With this visa I will be able to leave whenever I want and it really changes my life, because it costs a lot to obtain permits. You have to talk to a lot of people, lawyers, but now I can also go to Guatemala whenever I want,” said Grijalva, who lives in Arizona.
He is also aware of the hope that his participation in the Olympic Games generates in Guatemala: “I really am like a Guatemalan, like any Guatemalan, I feel very happy and thank you for all the support,” he said.
He smiles when talking about Guatemala, because it is very different from where he lives.
“In the United States people are a little cold,” but in Guatemala you feel the warmth of the people, “like a hug,” he said.
In Paris, Grijalva will be able to show off the colors of Guatemala.
Good news for Guatemala:
Until last week, the Guatemalan Olympic Committee (COG) was under a sanction that the International Olympic Committee had imposed on it 18 months ago, due to alleged governmental and judicial interference in the functioning of the COG.
One of the effects of the sanction was that athletes from the Central American country could not compete in jousts with their national symbols.
“I feel very happy, it is great for the country, I did not want to run in the Olympic Games if I did not put Guatemala on my shirt, for me it is great, for the country it is great, maybe we can make history (in the Games)” , he pointed.
Guatemala has barely won one medal in its Olympic history, which was the silver that Erick Barrondo won in the 20 kilometer walk at the 2012 London Games.
Regarding his participation in the 5,000 meters, Grijalva indicated that it will be a hard moment, although he considers that the difference now is that he has more experience and is stronger at running.
He came 12th at the Tokyo Games in 2021, then finished fourth at the world championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022, and in Budapest last year.
Grijalva mentioned that last year the difference between first place and the other runners was less than a second and that in Paris it could be very similar.
“Every year I get faster, I’m still young, and I have more experience,” he said. “In the Olympic Games I want to represent Guatemala as high as I can.”
Source: AP
