From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ana Gabriela Guevara Espinoza (born March 4,
1977, in Nogales, Sonora) is a now-retired Mexican track and
field athlete, specialized in the 400 meters. Her career began
in 1996 carrying out diverse tours, participating in her first
international competences. In 1998, she won two silver medals in
the Central American and Caribbean Games in the distances of 400
and 800 meters.
Her first major victory was the gold medal in the 400m at the
1999 Pan
American Games in Canada.
A year later, she qualified to the 2000 Sydney Olympics going to the
400m finals, finishing with a reasonable 5th place with a time of
49.96 seconds. (After that race, she won 28 consecutive
international races before a second-place finish in Rome in July 2004).
At the 2001 World
Championships in Athletics, Guevara made the finals in the
400m. She came off the last turn leading the race with about 105m
to go. Unfortunately, she could not keep the fast pace and was
passed by Amy
Mbacke Thiam from Senegal and Lorraine Fenton from Jamaica with no more than 20 meters to go.
Guevara won the bronze medal posting a season best with a time of
49.97 seconds. In fact, Fenton and Mbacke Thiam also posted
personal bests, the last one also being a national record.
In 2003, she defended her title in the 400m at the 2003 Pan American
Games winning the gold medal. Later, on August 27, 2003, in Paris, France, she won the International
Association of Athletics Federations' Golden League in the
women's 400m. She set a personal record, a national record, and a
world leading time, running away from the field in 48.89 seconds.
That time currently is, as of 2008, the 9th fastest time in
history.
Guevara, being the flag carrier for the Mexican team, would make
her second Olympic team on 2004 representing her country in the 400
meters. After winning her heat in the first round, and her
corresponding semi-final, she would go on to win the silver medal
in the final.
A year later, at the 2005 World
Championships in Athletics, she won the bronze medal in the 400
meters with a time of 49.81 seconds, despite the heavy
rainfall.
In 2007, for the third consecutive time, she won the gold medal
in the 400m at the 2007 Pan American Games. In addition, she
led Mexico's 4x400m relay team to a second place finish with an
incredible comeback. About a month later, at age of 30 Guevara
participated in her fourth World Championships in Athletics in Osaka. She finished in fourth place
with a time of 50.16 seconds, a season best. Just beating 24 year
old DeeDee
Trotter of the United States by .01 seconds.
On January 16 2008, she announced her definitive retirement from
all competitions due to conflicts with Mariano Lara, the (nowadays
former) president of the Mexican Athletics Federation. No help was
received at that time by Carlos Hermosillo, director of the Conade
(Comision Nacional de Cultura Fisica y Deporte) who did not act
rapidly and the problem only grew bigger and continued for months.
She said finally: "My retirement from sport in Mexico is now
definitive, I contemplated the possibility of participating
independently at the Olympic Games but my dream was to participate
for my country..."
In 2009 she entered politics, standing as the PRD candidate for
the Delegation of Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico City. Due to her inexperience in
politics she lost to Demetrio
Sodi de la Tijera.
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