This Saturday, one of the most promising members of the Colombian delegation in Paris 2024 will make his debut. World Youth Champion last year, Cucuteño, just 17 years old, will compete in his first Olympic Games.
Angel Barajas says he is calm. Two days before his competition, he was able to train on what would be his battlefield. That day, he looked at the bar, covered his hands in lime, and when he shook his palms, the magnesium powder dissolved into the air. Same old routine!
She trusted her to enter the fight on Olympus. She took a deep breath, took a run, and in a couple of seconds, she was already doing somersaults in the sky. There was no noise on the stage. In the background, she could barely hear how the volunteers moved empty seats and gave instructions to the novices.
When the lights in the stands were turned off, the track was illuminated. Barajas was still there, shaking himself on the bars, while his coach, Jairo Ruiz, stared at him, gave him measured instructions, and waited patiently for his strategy to be carried out—the same routine as always! He designed it to take his pupil to the Olympic final, hesays.
The one who says that Angel Barajas is calm. He is not impatient with the big event, with his debut today on the first official day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. “We remind him of this, anyway, all the time. It is a daily job that is not only done by me but also by the team of psychologists. If he manages to maintain this calm, we will be much closer to achieving the objective: achieving the complete routines on parallel and fixed bars to reach the Olympic final.”
Barajas is only 17 years old, and he earned the right to be in Paris in 2024 after placing in the top spots of the pre-Olympic classification. Guided by the example of the man he considers his hero, Jossimar Calvo, the young gymnast earned his place in the great French event, competing side by side with the athlete who inspired his childhood dreams when he started in the sport at the age of five. He had barely started as a professional, and in less than a year, he ended up surpassing his teacher and winning him a place in the Olympic Games.
“No matter how far he goes, his participation is already historic. He started two years ago. He did a South American, a Pan American, and a World Championship—all youth championships. Last year, he jumped to the first level, and in a few months, he earned his Olympic ticket. If he manages to reach the final, as Jossimar did in his time, it will be a new unprecedented achievement,” explained his coach, who has been with him since he was a child, in which the illusion of competing in the Olympics grew with the lively intensity of the flame that is beginning to be born.
With qualification already assured, Ángel Barajas made a very conscious preparation. It began in May, after his participation in the World Cups came to an end. In April, together with the gymnastics team, the Cucuteño went to a training camp in Madrid (Spain) and arrived in Paris on July 9. He entered the Olympic Village on the 19th and began his countdown to his long-awaited debut. Amid the expectation and anxiety as the clock ticks, the coach warns: “The plan was made meticulously. We must not make any mistakes, and everything must follow the plan.”
According to his coach, Barajas’ project is the first step in a much more ambitious process. They are aiming for Los Angeles to arrive with a larger team, with several gymnasts who are being polished at the same school as the athlete with whom Colombia is making its debut today in artistic gymnastics. “The future is promising. We are aiming for the next Olympics. They are young, and we are pleased with the group we are bringing. What we do here will have an influence on the future of Colombian gymnastics,” said Ruiz.
The lights went out on the stage. Ingel Barajas had already finished his routine. Ready to shine in the City of Light, the gymnast is enjoying his Olympic debut: “I have dreamed of it since I was little, and achieving it so young makes me happy. I will give my all and prove my efforts were worthwhile.”
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