GUATEMALA: Guatemalan Olympic walker receives hero's welcome after winning silver in London, the country's first-ever Olympic medal

Record ID: 331099

  • Title: GUATEMALA: Guatemalan Olympic walker receives hero's welcome after winning silver in London, the country's first-ever Olympic medal
  • Date: 15th August 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESIDENT, SUSANA CASTILLO, SAYING: "Extremely happy and thrilled. Just imagine, our first Olympic medal. We have to celebrate."
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Guatemala
  • Country: Guatemala
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVABW988AJ73I756LIZ98T6H3PIU
  • Story Text: Thousands of jubilant fans gave Erick Barrondo a royal reception in Guatemala City on Monday (August 13) after the 21-year-old arrived home to celebrate winning the country's first Olympic medal.
    Barrondo, who finished second in the men's 20km race walk while taking in the sights of Buckingham Palace, was greeted by a deafening roar as he arrived in an open-top bus which took hours to reach the centre of the capital.
    Traffic on the capital's main streets ground to a halt as fans got out of their cars to salute Guatemala's most popular athlete.

    "Extremely happy and thrilled. Just imagine, our first Olympic medal. We have to celebrate," said resident, Susana Castillo.
    Barrondo, whose parents were both middle distance runners, finished 11 seconds behind China's Chen Ding.
    During a joint news conference with Guatemala's president Otto Perez Molina, Barrondo thanked Guatemalans for their support.

    "Many people maybe stopped visiting someone on Saturday morning, maybe they didn't go to work or asked for a day off to watch our race because I know many didn't sleep or woke up at dawn to see our competition. I want to thank them from my heart for everything they have done for us," he said.
    Perez Molina said Barrondo was making history in the country.

    "We feel very happy and we are giving Erick Barrondo a great welcome back for being our first Olympic medalist and he's making history in our country."
    Barrondo's entire family and fellow team-mates paraded alongside him on a giant stage where music bands entertained the crowd.
    In a day of firsts in London the race was won by Chen, who together with his third placed compatriot Wang Zhen were the first Chinese men to win an Olympic medal in a race walking event.
    Barrondo, who finished 10th in last year's 20km race walk final at the world championships in Daegu, worked hard to stay in contention among a Chinese and Russian dominated leading pack before breaking away to split China's duo on the final stretch.
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