Kimberly García

Gabriela Kimberly García León (born 19 October 1993)[2] is a female racewalker from Peru. She won gold medals in the women's 20 kilometres walk and 35 km walk at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, becoming the first Peruvian medallist in championships history and the first Latin American to earn two titles at the same World Athletics Championships.[3][4]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is García and the second or maternal family name is León.
Kimberly García
Personal information
Full nameGabriela Kimberly García León[1]
Born (1993-10-19) 19 October 1993
Huancayo, Peru
EducationUniversidad Continental
Height164 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Sport
CountryPeru
SportAthletics
Event(s)Racewalking
Coached byAndrés Chocho (2022–)
Pedro Cañizares (–2021)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Peru
World Championships
2022 Eugene20 km walk
2022 Eugene35 km walk
World Race Walking Team Championships
2022 Muscat20 km walk
Pan American Games
2019 Lima20 km walk
Pan American Race Walking Cup
2013 Guatemala20 km walk
2015 Arica20 km walk
2017 Lima20 km walk
Ibero-American Championships
2018 São Trujillo10,000 m walk
2022 La Nucia10,000 m walk
2014 São Paulo10,000 m walk
South American Race Walking Championships
2014 Cochabamba20 km walk
2022 Lima20 km walk
2018 Sucúa20 km walk

García represented Peru in the women's 20 kilometres walk at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[2] She holds South American record in the 35 km walk and three Peruvian national records (10,000 m walk, 10 km walk and 20 km walk).

Early life

Kimberly García comes from the Inca nation and was born in Huancayo in central Peru. Her family has always been linked to race walking, so she started training when she was 5 years old, following in the footsteps of her cousin.[5]

Career

As a 12-year-old García won the 5 kilometres race walk at the Peruvian Race Walking Under-18 Championships and Peruvian U18 Championships. Three years later, in 2009, she took victory in the 10 km walk U20 event of the Peruvian Race Walking Championships. She was seventh at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore (5000 m walk).[2]

At 19, she claimed the gold medal in the 20 km walk at the 2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup. García won also the event at the 2014 South American Race Walking Championships. In May that year, she set her first South American record (20 km) in Taicang, China.[6] García placed 14th in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.[2] After the Games, she considered retiring from professional athletics due to the lack of support from private companies.[5]

In 2017, she achieved the highest position of Peruvian athlete in a World Athletics Championships, finishing seventh in the 20 km walk at the Championships in London.[7]

In 2019, García won the silver medal in the event at the Pan American Games staged in Lima.[2] In December that year, she was named Athlete of the Year by the Peruvian Athletics Sport Federation.[5]

She qualified for the event but failed to finish the 20 km walk at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[2]

2022

In March, the 28-year-old finished third in the 20 km walk at the World Race Walking Team Championships held in Muscat, Oman. In April, she broke the South American record in the 35 km walk at the Dudinská Päťdesiatka meeting in Dudince, Slovakia.[8]

At the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon in July, García first won 20 km walk in a national record, becoming the first ever medallist from Peru in championships history and ending longer than 10 years Chinese dominance in the event.[9][10] Seven days later, she added second title for the 35 km walk, improving her own South American record and becoming the first woman to earn two racewalking titles at one global championships. García also became the first Latin American to win two gold medals at the same World Athletics Championships.[11] In November, she was shortlisted for the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year award.[4]

Achievements

Personal bests

International competitions
Representing  Peru
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventResultNotes
2009 World Youth Championships Brixen, Italy – 5000 m walk DQ
2010 South American U18 Race Walking Championships Cochabamba, Bolivia 1st 5 km walk 24:24
World Race Walking Cup, U20 events Chihuahua City, Mexico 22nd 10 km walk 54:02
Youth Olympic Games Bishan, Singapore 7th 5000 m walk 23:17.04 PB
South American Youth Championships Santiago, Chile 2nd 5000 m walk 23:25.76
2011 Pan American Race Walking Cup, U20 events Barcelona, Spain 2nd 10 km walk 49:13
South American U20 Championships in Athletics Medellín, Colombia – 10,000 m walk DQ
2012 South American Race Walking Championships, U20 events Salinas, Ecuador 4th 10 km walk 47:57
World Race Walking Cup, U20 events Saransk, Russia 11th 10 km walk 47:56 SB
World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 10th 10,000 m walk 47:42.49 SB
2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup Guatemala City, Guatemala 1st 20 km walk 1:35:01
South American Race Walking Championships Cartagena, Colombia – 20,000 m walk DQ
World Championships Beijing, China 31st 20 km walk 1:33:57 NR
Bolivarian Games Trujillo, Peru 3rd 20 km walk 1:34:29
2014 South American Race Walking Championships Cochabamba, Bolivia 1st 20 km walk 1:35:34
World Race Walking Cup Taicang, China 24th 20 km walk 1:29:44 AR
Ibero-American Championships São Paulo, Brazil 3rd 10,000 m walk 43:57.44
2015 Pan American Race Walking Cup Arica, Chile 2nd 20 km walk 1:31:13
South American Race Walking Championships Lima, Peru – 20,000 m walk DQ
Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 5th 20 km walk 1:32:45
World Championships Beijing, China – 20 km walk DNF
2016 South American Race Walking Championships Guayaquil, Ecuador 8th 20 km walk 1:38:21
World Race Walking Team Championships Rome, Italy 12th 20 km walk 1:29:38 NR
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14th 20 km walk 1:32:09
2017 Pan American Race Walking Cup Lima, Peru 2nd 20 km walk 1:29:15
World Championships London, United Kingdom 7th 20 km walk 1:29:13 NR
2018 South American Race Walking Championships Sucúa, Ecuador 3rd 20 km walk 1:32:48
World Race Walking Team Championships Taicang, China 8th 20 km walk 1:28:56
South American Games Cochabamba, Bolivia 1st 20 km walk 1:33:11 GR
Ibero-American Championships Trujillo, Peru 2nd 10,000 m walk 42:56.97 NR
2019 Pan American Games Lima, Peru 2nd 20 km walk 1:29:00 SB
2021 Olympic Games Sapporo, Japan – 20 km walk DNF
2022 South American Race Walking Championships Lima, Peru 2nd 20 km walk 1:32:00
World Race Walking Team Championships Muscat, Oman 3rd 20 km walk 1:32:27
Ibero-American Championships La Nucia, Spain 2nd 10,000 m walk 43:41.50
World Championships Eugene, OR, United States 1st 20 km walk 1:26:58 NR
1st 35 km walk 2:39:16 CR AR

See also

References
  1. "2018 South American Games results" (PDF). Archived from the original on 6 June 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "Kimberly GARCÍA LEÓN – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. "22 standout moments from a memorable '22 track and field season". World Athletics. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  4. "Spotlight on finalists: Kimberly Garcia and Jakob Ingebrigtsen". World Athletics. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  5. "Atleta peruana Gabriela Kimberly García León "Kimy", se adjudica la medalla de oro en el Campeonato Mundial de Atletismo, en Oregón EE.UU". prensaperu.pe (in Spanish). Peruvian News Agency. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  6. "20 Kilometres Race Walk Results". IAAF. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  7. Martín, Marta (23 July 2022). "Kimberly García: ¿quién es la doble campeona del mundo en el Mundial de Atletismo 2022?". Olympics.com (in Spanish). IOC. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  8. "Qieyang and Stano win 35km race walk debuts in Dudince". World Athletics. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  9. "'Fighter' Kimberly Garcia Leon dominates 20km race walk for Peru's first ever world gold". The Times of India. 16 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  10. Mulkeen, Jon (16 July 2022). "Garcia ends Chinese dominance of 20km race walk with landmark Oregon triumph". World Athletics. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  11. Rowbottom, Mike (22 July 2022). "Peru's Garcia Leon completes world race walk double as she wins new 35km event". Inside the Games. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
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