The history of Colombian Paralympics has outstanding figures who have raised the name of the country in international competitions.
One of the pioneers in this field was Pedro Mejía, who in 1980 in Arnhem, Netherlands, won Colombia’s first Paralympic gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke. His success continued with a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke, establishing himself as a legend in the country’s Para swimming.
More than two decades later, Moisés Fuentes took up Mejía’s legacy. At the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, Fuentes won a bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, becoming the first Colombian to win a Paralympic medal in the 21st century.
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At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, he not only improved on his previous performance by winning the silver medal in the 100m breaststroke, but also shared the spotlight with Elkin Serna, who repeated the silver medal in the T12 class marathon. Serna, in addition to his success in London, made history in Beijing 2008 by winning the country’s first medal in Para Athletics with his silver in the T12 marathon, filling the entire nation with pride.
Colombia’s participation in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 is due to the emergence of Carlos Daniel Serrano, who after two Olympics became the most important athlete in the national Paralympic world. The 26-year-old para swimmer won his first medal at the age of 18 and before the start of Paris 2024 he has seven medals to his name: 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze. Next to him sits his colleague Nélson Crispín, also with seven medals: 1 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze.
Arnhem 1980
- Pedro Mejia: Swimming, 100m breaststroke D – Gold
- Pedro Mejia Swimming, 100m backstroke CD – Bronze
Beijing 2008
- Elkin Serna: Athletics, marathon T12 – Silver
- Moisés Fuentes: Swimming, 100m breaststroke SB4 – Bronze
London 2012
- Elkin Serna: Athletics, marathon T12 – Silver
- Moisés Fuentes: Swimming, 100m breaststroke SB4 – Silver
Río 2016
- Mauricio Valencia: Athletics, Javelin Throw F34 – Gold
- Carlos Serrano: Swimming, 100m breaststroke SB7 – Gold
- Luis Fernando Lucumí: Athletics, Javelin Throw F38 – Silver
- Nelson Crispín: Swimming, 50m freestyle S6, 100m freestyle S6 and 100m breaststroke SB6 – Silver
- Carlos Serrano: Swimming, 100m freestyle S7 – Silver
- Wéiner Díaz: Athletics, 400 m T38 – Bronze
- Mauricio Valencia: Athletics, Shot Put F34 – Bronze
- Maritza Arango Hernández: Athletics, 1500 m T11 – Bronze
- Yesenia Restrepo, Maritza Arango, Sonia Sirley Luna, Jessica Marcela González: Athletics, 4 x 100 m T11 – 13 – Bronze
- Diego Germán Dueñas: Track cycling, individual pursuit C4 – Bronze
- Edwin Fabián Matiz: Track cycling, individual pursuit C5 – Bronze
- Néstor Javier Ayala: Track cycling, route T1 – 2 – Bronze
- Carlos Serrano: Swimming, 50m freestyle S7 – Bronze
- Moisés Fuentes: Swimming, 100m breaststroke SB4 – Bronze
Tokio 2020
- José Gregorio Lemos: Athletics, Javelin Throw F38 – Gold
- Carlos Serrano: Swimming, Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB7 – Gold
- Nelson Crispín: Swimming, 200 m styles SM6 – Gold
- Darian Faisury Jiménez: Athletics, 100 m women’s T38 – Plata
- Mauricio Valencia: Athletics, Javelin Throw F34 – Silver
- Mayerli Buitrago: Athletics, Shot Put F41 – Silver
- Carlos Serrano: Swimming, 50m freestyle S7 – Silver
- Moisés Fuentes: Swimming, 100m breaststroke SB4 – Silver
- Nelson Crispin: Swimming, 100m breaststroke SB6 and 100m freestyle S6 – Silver
- Angie Pabón: Athletics, 400 m T11 – Bronze
- Jean Carlos Mina: Athletics, 100m T13 – Bronze
- Diego Meneses: Athletics, Javelin Throw F34 – Bronze
- Luis Fernando Lucumí: Athletics, Javelin Throw F38 – Bronze
- Yesenia Restrepo: Athletics, Discus Throw F11 – Bronze
- José Gregorio Lemos: Athletics, Long Jump T38 – Bronze
- Diego Germán Dueñas: Track Cycling, Individual Pursuit C4 – Bronze
- Juan José Betancourt Quiroga: Road cycling, Road race T1-2 – Bronze
- Fabio Torres: Powerlifting, Men’s –97kg – Bronze
- Nelson Crispin: Swimming, 50m butterfly S6 – Bronze
- Carlos Serrano: Swimming, 50m butterfly S7 and 200m medley SM7 – Bronze
- Laura Carolina González Rodríguez: Swimming, 100m butterfly S8 – Bronze
