Ángel Barajas

Ángel Barajas
Barajas in 2024
Personal information
Full nameÁngel Gabriel Barajas Vivas
Born (2006-08-12) 12 August 2006
Cúcuta, Colombia
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented
Colombia Colombia
(2018–present)
ClubLiga Norte de Santander
Head coach
Jairo Ruiz
Assistant coach
Jossimar Calvo
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Colombia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2024 ParisHorizontal bar
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place2026 Rio de JaneiroHorizontal bar
Silver medal – second place2026 Rio de JaneiroTeam
Silver medal – second place2026 Rio de JaneiroAll-around
Silver medal – second place2026 Rio de JaneiroFloor exercise
Bronze medal – third place2026 Rio de JaneiroPommel horse
Central American and Caribbean Games
Gold medal – first place2026 Santo DomingoTeam
Gold medal – first place2026 Santo DomingoAll-around
Gold medal – first place2026 Santo DomingoParallel bars
Gold medal – first place2026 Santo DomingoHorizontal bar
Silver medal – second place2026 Santo DomingoRings
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place2023 AntalyaFloor exercise
Gold medal – first place2023 AntalyaParallel bars
Silver medal – second place2023 AntalyaAll-around
Bronze medal – third place2023 AntalyaHorizontal bar
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Cup 2 3 5
World Challenge Cup 0 2 0
Total 2 5 5
Signature

Ángel Gabriel Barajas Vivas[a] (born 12 August 2006) is a Colombian artistic gymnast. He is the first Colombian gymnast to win an Olympic medal, earning a silver medal on the horizontal bar at the 2024 Olympic Games.[1] Barajas is also the 2022 South American Youth Games champion and the 2023 Junior World all-around silver medalist.

Early life

Barajas was born in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, to Angélica María Vivas and Wilson Barajas. He has two older siblings.[2] His father left the family when Barajas was six years old.[3] He attends the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International.[4]

When Barajas was three years old, he began imitating Sportacus, a character from the Icelandic television show LazyTown, who performed flashy handstands and backflips on the show.[3]

Junior gymnastics career

Barajas began gymnastics training when he was five years old, at a local club in Cúcuta. His older brother, Jeisson, worked two jobs to pay for Barajas' gymnastics training.[3]

Since 2018, Barajas has been training with the Norte de Santander Gymnastics League alongside gymnasts like Jossimar Calvo.[5][6] In 2019 Barajas joined the Colombian Sports Ministry's Athletic Excellence program, which paid him a monthly salary.[3]

2021

In 2021, Barajas competed at the Junior Pan American Championships, where he helped Colombia secure second place as a team. Individually, he won bronze medals in the all-around, floor exercise, and horizontal bar, and he claimed gold on the pommel horse.[7]

2022

In late April, Barajas participated in the South American Youth Games, leading Colombia to team gold. He individually won gold in six of the seven events, missing out only on rings.[4] In July, at the Pan American Championships, he helped Colombia finish fourth as a team. Individually, he won gold on the horizontal bar, silver in the all-around, floor exercise, and vault, and bronze on parallel bars.[8][9]

2023

In late March, Barajas competed at the second Junior World Championships as the lone male Colombian delegate. On the first day, he qualified for the all-around final in first place and also made it to the finals for floor exercise, parallel bars, and horizontal bar.[10][11] In the all-around final, he won silver, finishing behind Qin Guohuan of China. In the apparatus finals, Barajas secured gold medals on floor exercise and parallel bars, and a bronze on horizontal bar.[12] With four medals, he left Antalya as the most decorated athlete.[13]

Senior gymnastics career

2024

Barajas became eligible for senior competition in 2024. He made his senior debut at the Cairo World Cup in mid-February, where he qualified for the parallel bars and horizontal bar finals. He won bronze on the horizontal bar, finishing behind Tang Chia-hung and Joe Fraser, and placed eighth on parallel bars.[14] At the conclusion of the World Cup series, Barajas earned an individual Olympic berth for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.[15]

At the Olympic Games, Barajas competed in the parallel bars and horizontal bar. During qualifications, he qualified for the horizontal bar final and was the third reserve for the parallel bars final. On the final day of competition for artistic gymnastics, Barajas scored 14.533 on the horizontal bar—the highest score of the day. However, he lost the execution score tie-breaker to Shinnosuke Oka, earning the silver medal. This achievement made Barajas the first Colombian gymnast to win an Olympic medal.[16][17]

After winning the Olympic silver medal, Barajas was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Santander[18] and was also given an apartment in Cúcuta.[19] For his Olympic feat Barajas was named Athlete of the Year by the Colombian Olympic Committee.[20]

2025

Barajas competed at the 2025 Pan American Championships where he finished fifth on horizontal bar and seventh in the all-around, on rings, and on parallel bars.[21] In September he competed at the World Challenge Cups in Paris and Szombathely. At the former he won silver on parallel bars behind Joe Fraser and placed fifth on horizontal bar and at the latter he won silver on horizontal bar behind Milad Karimi.[22] Barajas ended the season competing at the 2025 World Championships where he qualified to the all-around and parallel bars finals. He placed sixth in the all-around, earning Colombia's best all-around placement at a World Championships, beating Jossimar Calvo's tenth place finish in 2014, and placed fourth on parallel bars.[23]

2026

Barajas began the year competing at the 2026 Cottbus World Cup where he won silver on horizontal bar behind Shohei Kawakami.[24] At the Baku World Cup, Barajas won his first World Cup gold, doing so on the parallel bars. Additionally he won bronze on horizontal bar.[25][26] At the Antalya World Cup, Barajas won a pair of silver medals on the parallel bars and horizontal bar.[27] Barajas ended the World Cup series winning gold on parallel bars and bronze on horizontal bar in Osijek. As a result he was the overall series winner on the parallel bars.[28]

At the 2026 Pan American Championships, Barajas helped Colombia win silver behind Canada. Individually Barajas qualified to the all-around final in first place and additionally qualified to all apparatus event finals besides vault. During the all-around final Barajas was leading going into the final rotation but fell on horizontal bar and ended up winning silver behind teammate Camilo Vera.[29] During event finals Barajas won silver on floor exercise behind Jorge Vega, bronze on pommel horse behind Patrick Hoopes and Jordan Carroll, and ended the competition winning gold on horizontal bar after earning a score 15.233, over one point ahead of second place finisher Diogo Soares.[30] Additionally he placed eighth on rings and sixth on parallel bars.[31] Barajas next competed at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games where he helped Colombia win team gold.[32] Individually he won gold in the all-around ahead of teammate Vera, silver on rings behind Francisco Vélez of Puerto Rico, and gold on parallel bars and horizontal bar ahead of teammate Yan Zabala on both.[33][34][35]

Competitive history

Competitive history of Ángel Barajas at the junior level
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
2018 Colombian Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Colombian Championships (senior)64
2021
Pan American Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
South American Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2022 South American Youth Games1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)41st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Pan American Championships42nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023
Junior World Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Competitive history of Ángel Barajas at the senior level
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
2024 Cairo World Cup83rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Cottbus World Cup4
Baku World Cup3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Doha World Cup4
Olympic Games142nd place, silver medalist(s)
2025
Pan American Championships57775
Paris World Challenge Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)5
Szombathely World Challenge Cup672nd place, silver medalist(s)
World ChampionshipsN/a64R1
2026 Cottbus World Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Baku World Cup1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Antalya World Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Osijek World Cup1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Pan American Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)861st place, gold medalist(s)
Central American and Caribbean Games1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)

Notes

  1. ↑ In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Barajas and the second or maternal family name is Vivas.

References

  1. ↑ Méndez, Por Juan David Botia (5 August 2024). "Miguel Ángel Barajas habló de cómo ganó la medalla de plata en los Juegos Olímpicos de París: "No tenía nada que perder"". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  2. ↑ Rengifo, Lisandro Abel (10 May 2022). "Ángel Barajas: así es el nuevo diamante de la gimnasia colombiana". El Tiempo. Casa Editorial El Tiempo. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Noriega, Christina (6 August 2024). "Colombia goes gaga over gymnast Ángel Barajas: From fence jumper to Olympic medalist". NPR.
  4. 1 2 "Ángel Barajas: así es el nuevo diamante de la gimnasia colombiana" [Ángel Barajas: this is the new diamond of Colombian gymnastics]. El Tiempo. 10 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Ángel Barajas, la nueva joya de la gimnasia artística colombiana". Comité Olímpico Colombiano. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  6. ↑ Rengifo, Lisandro Abel (10 May 2022). "Ángel Barajas: así es el nuevo diamante de la gimnasia colombiana". El Tiempo. Casa Editorial El Tiempo. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Seven U.S. gymnasts capture 15 medals during final day of 2021 Junior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics. 21 June 2021.
  8. ↑ "U.S. juniors sweep team, all-around titles on first day of artistic competition at 2022 Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics. 14 July 2022.
  9. ↑ "Richard, Sumanasekera, Zhou golden on final day of Junior Pan American Championships". USA Gymnastics. 16 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Debut con primer lugar para Ángel Barajas en el Mundial de Gimnasia Artística" [Debut with first place for Ángel Barajas in the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships]. Colombian Olympic Committee (in Spanish). 28 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "Asian domination: Japanese men repeat as World Junior team champions". International Gymnastics Federation. 29 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Con dos oros vuelveal país el Ángel de la". El Colombiano (in Spanish). 2 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "FIG dice que Barajas es "el gimnasta más fascinante surgido en Sudamérica"" [FIG says Barajas is "the most fascinating gymnast to emerge in South America"]. El Heraldo (in Spanish). 4 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "2024 Cairo World Cup Men's Results". The Gymternet. 18 February 2024.
  15. ↑ "23 more Artistic gymnasts have earned Olympic berths! See who's headed to Paris here". International Gymnastics Federation. 22 April 2024.
  16. ↑ "Ángel Barajas Makes History with Colombia's First-Ever Olympics Medal in Gymnastics". Remezcla. 5 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "¡Histórico Ángel Barajas! Una Plata Olímpica Que Sabe A Oro Para La Gimnasia Artística Colombiana" [Historic Angel Barajas! An Olympic silver that tastes like gold for Colombian artistic gymnastics]. International Olympic Committee (in Spanish). 5 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "El gimnasta Ángel Barajas ya decidió qué carrera va a estudiar; universidad privada colombiana le otorgó una beca" [Gymnast Ángel Barajas has already decided what career he will study; a private Colombian university has awarded him a scholarship]. El Colombiano (in Spanish). 13 August 2024.
  19. ↑ "Este es el especial detalle con el que Ángel Barajas fue recompensado por haber ganado una medalla olímpica en París 2024" [This is the special detail with which Ángel Barajas was rewarded for having won an Olympic medal in Paris 2024]. El País (in Spanish). 14 October 2024.
  20. ↑ "Altius de oro. Ángel Barajas, el fenómeno de la gimnasia" [Altius of gold. Angel Barajas, the phenomenon of gymnastics]. Colombian Olympic Committee (in Spanish). 22 January 2025.
  21. ↑ "2025 Pan American Championships Men's Results". The Gymternet. 18 June 2025.
  22. ↑ "Paris when it sizzles: 2024 Olympians prevail at penultimate Gymnastics World Challenge Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. 15 September 2025.
  23. ↑ "The MAG Record Breakers in Jakarta". The Gymternet. 2 November 2025.
  24. ↑ "Kawakami, Kalmykova emerge as multiple medallists at Cottbus World Cup". World Gymnastics. 24 February 2026.
  25. ↑ "2026 Baku World Cup Men's Results". The Gymternet. 9 March 2026.
  26. ↑ "Ángel Barajas se corona campeón en la Copa Mundo de Bakú" [Ángel Barajas Crowned Champion at the Baku World Cup]. ESPN Deportes (in Spanish). 7 March 2026.
  27. ↑ "Olympic champions's message at Antalya World Cup: 'Don't forget about us'". World Gymnastics. 17 March 2026.
  28. ↑ "2026 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series winners unveiled". World Gymnastics. 16 April 2026.
  29. ↑ "Pan American Gymnastics Championships 2026: Claire Pease, Camilo Vera claim respective individual all-around titles". International Olympic Committee. 19 June 2026.
  30. ↑ "Rebeca Andrade returns to win vault gold at 2026 Pan American Gymnastics Championships". International Olympic Committee. 21 June 2026.
  31. ↑ "CAMPEONATO PANAMERICANO ADULTOS DE GIMNASIA ARTÍSTICA – 2026" (PDF). USA Gymnastics. 21 June 2026.
  32. ↑ "Gimnastas colombianos se lucen en Centroamericanos: hicieron marca que solo han alcanzado japoneses y chinos" [Colombian gymnasts shine at the Central American Games: they set a record only achieved by Japanese and Chinese athletes]. Yahoo (in Spanish). 3 August 2026.
  33. ↑ "Ángel Barajas cerró con dos oros y Colombia ganó el medallero de la gimnasia artística en Santo Domingo 2026" [Ángel Barajas finished with two gold medals and Colombia won the medal count for artistic gymnastics at Santo Domingo 2026]. Colombian Olympic Committee (in Spanish). 6 August 2026.
  34. ↑ "Colombia mantiene el segundo lugar en los Centroamericanos y del Caribe Santo Domingo 2026" [Colombia maintains second place in the Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo 2026]. El Quindiano (in Spanish). 7 August 2026.
  35. ↑ "Ángel Barajas lideró la excelente presentación de la gimnasia artística colombiana en Santo Domingo 2026" [Ángel Barajas led the excellent performance of Colombian artistic gymnastics at Santo Domingo 2026]. La Opinión (in Spanish). 7 August 2026.
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