Ángel Barajas

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Barajas and the second or maternal family name is Vivas.

Ángel Gabriel Barajas Vivas (born August 12, 2006) is a Colombian artistic gymnast. He is the first Colombian gymnast to win an Olympic medal, earning a silver medal on the horizontal bar at the 2024 Olympic Games.^[1] Barajas is also the 2022 South American Youth Games champion and the 2023 Junior World all-around silver medalist.

Ángel Barajas
Personal information
Full name	Ángel Gabriel Barajas Vivas
Country represented	Colombia
Born	(2006-08-12) August 12, 2006 (age 18) Cúcuta, Colombia
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Discipline	Men's artistic gymnastics
Level	Senior International Elite
Years on national team	2018–present (COL)
Club	Liga Norte de Santander
Head coach(es)	Jairo Ruiz
Medal record Representing  Colombia Men's artistic gymnastics Olympic Games 2024 Paris Horizontal bar Junior World Championships 2023 Antalya Floor exercise 2023 Antalya Parallel bars 2023 Antalya All-around 2023 Antalya Horizontal bar FIG World Cup Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Cup 0 0 3 Total 0 0 3

Early life

Barajas was born in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, to Angélica María Vivas and Wilson Barajas. He has two older siblings.^[2] His father left the family when Barajas was six years old.^[3] He attends the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International.^[4]

When Barajas was three years old, he began imitating Sportacus, a character from the Icelandic television show LazyTown, who performed flashy handstands and backflips on the show.^[3]

Junior gymnastics career

Barajas began gymnastics training when he was five years old, at a local club in Cúcuta. His older brother, Jeisson, worked two jobs to pay for Barajas' gymnastics training.^[3]

Since 2018, Barajas has been training with the Norte de Santander Gymnastics League alongside gymnasts like Jossimar Calvo.^[5][6] In 2019 Barajas joined the Colombian Sports Ministry's Athletic Excellence program, which paid him a monthly salary.^[3]

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, and horizontal bar, and he claimed gold on the pommel horse.^[7]

2022

In late April, Barajas participated in the South American Youth Games, leading Colombia to team gold. He individually won gold in six of the seven events, missing out only on rings.^[4] 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.^[8][9]

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.^[10][11] 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.^[12] With four medals, he left Antalya as the most decorated athlete.^[13]

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, and placed eighth on parallel bars.^[14] At the conclusion of the World Cup series, Barajas earned an individual Olympic berth for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.^[15]

At the Olympic Games, Barajas competed in the parallel bars and horizontal bar. During qualifications, 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, earning the silver medal. This achievement made Barajas the first Colombian gymnast to win an Olympic medal.^[16][17]

After winning the Olympic silver medal, Barajas was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Santander^[18] and was also given an apartment in Cúcuta.^[19]

Competitive history

Year	Event	Team	AA	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB
Junior
2018	Colombian Championships
2019	Colombian Championships (senior)		6		4
2021
	Pan American Championships
	South American Championships
2022	South American Youth Games					4
	Pan American Championships	4
2023
	Junior World Championships
Senior
2024	Cairo World Cup							8
	Cottbus World Cup							4
	Baku World Cup
	Doha World Cup								4
	Olympic Games							14

References

1. Méndez, Por Juan David Botia (August 5, 2024). "Miguel Ángel Barajas habló de cómo ganó la medalla de plata en los Juegos Olímpicos de París: "No tenía nada que perder"". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved August 6, 2024.
2. Rengifo, Lisandro Abel (May 10, 2022). "Ángel Barajas: así es el nuevo diamante de la gimnasia colombiana". El Tiempo. Casa Editorial El Tiempo. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
3. Noriega, Christina (August 6, 2024). "Colombia goes gaga over gymnast Ángel Barajas: From fence jumper to Olympic medalist". NPR.
4. "Ángel Barajas: así es el nuevo diamante de la gimnasia colombiana" [Ángel Barajas: this is the new diamond of Colombian gymnastics]. El Tiempo. May 10, 2022.
5. "Ángel Barajas, la nueva joya de la gimnasia artística colombiana". Comité Olímpico Colombiano. January 18, 2024. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
6. Rengifo, Lisandro Abel (May 10, 2022). "Ángel Barajas: así es el nuevo diamante de la gimnasia colombiana". El Tiempo. Casa Editorial El Tiempo. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
7. "Seven U.S. gymnasts capture 15 medals during final day of 2021 Junior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics. June 21, 2021.
8. "U.S. juniors sweep team, all-around titles on first day of artistic competition at 2022 Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics. July 14, 2022.
9. "Richard, Sumanasekera, Zhou golden on final day of Junior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics. July 16, 2022.
10. "Debut con primer lugar para Ángel Barajas en el Mundial de Gimnasia Artística" [Debut with first place for Ángel Barajas in the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships]. Colombian Olympic Committee (in Spanish). March 28, 2023.
11. "Asian domination: Japanese men repeat as World Junior team champions". International Gymnastics Federation. March 29, 2023.
12. "Con dos oros vuelveal país el Ángel de la". El Colombiano (in Spanish). April 2, 2023.
13. "FIG dice que Barajas es "el gimnasta más fascinante surgido en Sudamérica"" [FIG says Barajas is "the most fascinating gymnast to emerge in South America"]. El Heraldo (in Spanish). April 4, 2023.
14. "2024 Cairo World Cup Men's Results". The Gymternet. February 18, 2024.
15. "23 more Artistic gymnasts have earned Olympic berths! See who's headed to Paris here". International Gymnastics Federation. April 22, 2024.
16. "Ángel Barajas Makes History with Colombia's First-Ever Olympics Medal in Gymnastics". Remezcla. August 5, 2024.
17. "¡Histórico Ángel Barajas! Una Plata Olímpica Que Sabe A Oro Para La Gimnasia Artística Colombiana" [Historic Angel Barajas! An Olympic silver that tastes like gold for Colombian artistic gymnastics]. International Olympic Committee (in Spanish). August 5, 2024.
18. "El gimnasta Ángel Barajas ya decidió qué carrera va a estudiar; universidad privada colombiana le otorgó una beca" [Gymnast Ángel Barajas has already decided what career he will study; a private Colombian university has awarded him a scholarship]. El Colombiano (in Spanish). August 13, 2024.
19. "Este es el especial detalle con el que Ángel Barajas fue recompensado por haber ganado una medalla olímpica en París 2024" [This is the special detail with which Ángel Barajas was rewarded for having won an Olympic medal in Paris 2024]. El País (in Spanish). October 14, 2024.