Long distance runner Luis Grijalva is going to Paris for a medal for himself, Guatemala and all the ‘dreamers’

Until recently, in order to participate in international competitions, Luis Grijalva divided his time between training and legal procedures that almost kept him out of the last Olympic Games. All of that is now a thing of the past for the Guatemalan runner.

Grijalva needed to process permits to leave because he was part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), a United States immigration policy which delays the deportation of people in that country.

The 25-year-old Guatemalan arrived in the United States when he was just 1 year old.

But for a few months now, the competitor has had a new visa that allows him to travel without restrictions. He will arrive in the next Olympic Games as one of the solid medal hopes for his home country.

“With this visa I will be able to leave whenever I want and it will change my life, because it was very expensive and I lost a lot of time to get the permits,” Grijalva told The Associated Press“I have to talk to a lot of people, lawyers, but now I can go to Guatemala whenever I want.”

The long-distance runner now owns the O-1 visawhich is reserved for people with extraordinary abilities or achievements in the sciences, arts, education, business or sports.

This new visa has allowed him to travel to Europe to prepare for the Olympic Games, where he will seek to give Guatemala its second Olympic medal after the one won by Erick Barrondo, who won a silver in the 20-kilometer race walk in London 2012.

Grijalva will also have the experience of having participated in Tokyo 2021, where he finished 12th in the 5,000 meters. He is also supported by two fourth places achieved at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022, and in Budapest last year.

Much of the opportunity to compete in his first Olympics is due to photojournalist Erick Aguilar, a Latin American athletics enthusiast.

Seven years ago, Aguilar went to see Grijalva in person for the first time and, seeing the problem he had in participating in international competitions, decided to help him.

“I had to drive seven hours to see him, it was his last race and my wife and I traveled there and that’s where our relationship began,” Aguilar told The Associated Press.

Aguilar contacted attorney Jessica Smith to help Grijalva obtain the permits that allowed him to go to his first Olympic Games.

“When the lawyer saw the case and her talent, she acted quickly and within weeks she obtained the permit, of course, with the help of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, and she obtained the permit to become the first ‘dreamer’ to go to the Games,” said Aguilar, who lives in Sacramento.

The lawyer obtained permission for Grijalva to compete and return to the United States to reside without problems, something that being part of DACA she would not have been able to do.

“It was a great experience for me to go to Tokyo. It was the first time I left the United States and before that I had only lived in Guatemala. It was like discovering a new world,” said Grijalva, who arrived in California in 2000.

The Guatemalan discovered his passion for athletics at a young age. He began to stand out so much that he decided to stay in the United States at the age of 13, when his mother and two brothers decided to return to Guatemala.

His talent led him to obtain a scholarship at Northern Arizona University where he ran until 2021 when he achieved the record to go to the Tokyo Olympics.

“Luis’ experience has been one of learning. He has been special since high school. He runs and sets a goal and achieves it,” Aguilar added. “Those two fourth places in the World Championships have given him a lot of experience and each race is a lesson.”

Thanks to his new immigration status, the long-distance runner was recently able to travel to Guatemala after 23 years away. Being with his people for a few days gave him additional motivation for the Games.

“I want to meet the people of Guatemala, it’s my country,” he emphasized. “I was born here, my father and mother lived here, we have a lot of family history here. My family is Guatemalan, I wanted to run for them, for my family and for all of Guatemala.”

The 24-year-old long-distance runner will compete on the penultimate day of Paris 2024, the Olympic event that will take place between July 26 and August 11.

“Every year I get faster, I am still young and I have more experience,” said the runner. “At the Olympic Games I want to represent Guatemala as highly as I can, maybe we can make history.”

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