One Colombian national,
Francisco Henríquez de Zubiría, competed at the
1900 Summer Olympics before the advent of rules tying all participants to
National Olympic Committees. Henríquez de Zubiría was born in and lived in
Paris and competed for a French club in the
tug of war event, and is often listed as competing for France. The following month, Perry received an answer from the IOC. Fearful of being rejected, he slowly opened the letter. But surprisingly for him his request not only was accepted, but also help was offered for him before and during competition. On July 30, 1932, he paraded in the opening ceremony representing a country not affiliated to the IOC back then. He competed in the
marathon, but after ten kilometers was unable to finish and the race was won by Argentina's
Juan Carlos Zabala. Fourteen years later in 1946, Colombia's first olympian dies in
Bogotá, 4 days after suffering a motorcycle accident near his native
Samacá. For the
1936 edition of the Games, the
Comité Olímpico Colombiano was already created and sent five athletes to compete in
Berlin. After the controversial decision to replay a
football match between
Peru and Austria (after an adverse result for the Austrians), the Colombian delegation left the
olympic village as a sign of support to the
Peruvian team. After the conclusion of
World War II, the
1948 London Olympics were held and the
Colombian contingent for the first time included athletes from sports other than
track and field, taking part in
fencing and
swimming. Due to financing problems and a then
ongoing violent period, Colombia did not take part in the
1952 Helsinki Olympics. For the
Melbourne Games in 1956, the Colombian team expanded from a few competitors to
26 athletes, sending cyclists and weightlifters for the first time. Colombian athletes continued participating at the Olympics since then without missing a
Summer edition of the Games, sending females athletes to compete for the first time at the
1968 Summer Olympics held in
Mexico City. Colombia won their first olympic medals at the
Munich Olympics in 1972, forty years after making its debut in
the games. The first one was a
silver medal won by shooter
Helmut Bellingrodt in the
50 metre running target event, both
Clemente Rojas and
Alfonso Pérez won each one a
bronze medal in
boxing at those games too, bringing the medal tally for the
Colombian delegation to a total of three medals. Colombia did not join the
US-Led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, although the then
President of Colombia Julio Turbay initially supported the boycott. The then president of
Comité Olímpico Colombiano Fidel Mendoza did not abide the president's recommendations and gave green light to
23 Colombian athletes to participate. They won no medals in Russia. Competing in the
1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, shooter
Helmut Bellingrodt won his second silver medal in the
same event he won his first medal back in
1972, making him the first Colombian athlete to won two Olympics medals; his medal was the only one
the Colombian contingent won at those Games. At the
1988 Olympics in Seoul, another Colombian boxer won a bronze medal:
Jorge Eliécer Julio made it to the
Bantamweight category semifinals and faced Bulgaria's
Aleksandar Khristov; the Colombian was seen as dominating his opponent, but in the end three out of five judges declared the Bulgarian as winner of the bout, prompting protests from fans who were attending the boxing competitions at that moment.
Ximena Restrepo became the first Colombian woman to win an Olympic medal, by winning a bronze medal in the
women's 400 m. at the
1992 Barcelona Olympics. She found out she won a medal minutes later after crossing the line. Her 49.64 seconds mark still stands as the
South American record for that event. The country failed to win a medal at the
1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, although marathon runner
Carlos Grisales ranked eleventh in the
men's event, the highest position a Colombian athlete has ever achieved in an
olympic marathon race so far. The story was different four years later in
Sydney 2000, as Weightlifter
María Isabel Urrutia won the nation's first olympic
gold medal at the
75 kg. category. Urrutia lifted the same weight than silver and bronze medal winners Nigeria's
Ruth Ogbeifo and Taiwan's
Kuo Yi-hang respectively, but she won gold due her body weight being less than that of her rivals.
Señal Colombia broadcast her victory and when the event ended, the narrators mistakenly believed she won bronze as they saw on screen the results of the clean and jerk phase. Seconds after, the final results were screened and they realized their error and Urrutia's accomplishment. When the
Olympic Games returned to
Greece in
Athens 2004, the Colombian delegation collected two bronze medals through weightlifter
Mabel Mosquera and cyclist
María Luisa Calle,
Sandra Arenas became in the first race walker from the country to win an Olympic medal, as she ranked second in the women's 20 km. event. == Medal tables ==