Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Role Discus thrower Name Mauricio Ortega | Country Colombia Weight 90 kg (200 lb) Events Discus throw | |
Full name Mauricio Alexander Ortega Giron Born August 4, 1994 (age 29) ( 1994-08-04 ) Apartado, Antioquia, Colombia | ||
Mauricio Alexander Ortega Girón (born 4 August 1994 in Apartadó, Antioquia) is a Colombian discus thrower. His personal best of 59.95 m (196 ft 8 in) for the event is the Colombian record. He also holds the South American junior record.
He was the gold medallist at the 2014 South American Games and a bronze medallist at the 2013 South American Championships in Athletics. He was a two-time champion at the South American Junior Championships in Athletics.
Career
He competed at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics and placed fourth. He topped the podium at the 2011 South American Junior Championships in Athletics with a national junior record mark of 58.48 m (191 ft 10 1⁄4 in) – he was the youngest entrant at the event. At the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics he improved his record to 59.84 m (196 ft 3 3⁄4 in) in qualifying, but performed less well in the final and finished ninth. He began to throw with the senior-weight discus that year and was the winner of the 2012 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics. He won at the National Games of Colombia with a personal best of 55.00 m (180 ft 5 1⁄4 in).
Ortega established himself at the senior level in 2013. He won his first Colombian senior title in June and took the bronze medal at the 2013 South American Championships in Athletics with a personal best of 57.76 m (189 ft 6 in). The 2013 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships was hosted in Medellín and he came second to Hayden Reed with a junior personal best of 61.77 m (202 ft 7 3⁄4 in). He improved further to a South American junior record and championship record of 62.78 m (205 ft 11 1⁄2 in) to win gold at the 2013 South American Junior Championships in Athletics, which was also in Colombia. A Colombian senior record came at the 2013 Bolivarian Games, where his throw of 59.67 m (195 ft 9 in) brought him the gold medal in a games record.
He improved the national record to 59.95 m (196 ft 8 in) at the 2014 South American Games, breaking the games record to take the gold medal.