PEREZ Mayra

Date of Birth: 20 Dec 1988

Age: 32

Gender: Female

Place of birth: GUATEMALA CITY

Birth Country:

Guatemala

Place of residence : GUATEMALA CITY

Residence Country:

Guatemala

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Athletics	Women's 20km Race Walk	50

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Sapporo Odori Park	Women's 20km Race Walk Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Olympic Games

Year	Location	20km Race Walk
2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	DQ
2012	London, GBR	44th (1:35:33)

World Athletics Championships

Year	Location	20km Race Walk
2019	Doha, QAT	38th (1:46:42)
2015	Beijing, CHN	39th (1:39:23)
2013	Moscow, RUS	13th (1:30:59)

Pan American Games

Year	Location	50km Race Walk
2019	Lima, PER	6th (4:30:52)

World Race Walking Challenge - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location	Result
12	2019	20km Race Walk	Pan American Race Walking Cup	Lazaro Cardenas, MEX	1:35:45
14	2018	20km Race Walk	Monterrey	Monterrey, MEX	1:40:58
14	2018	50km Race Walk	World Race Walking Team Championships	Taicang, CHN	4:28:30
16	2021	20km Race Walk	World Race Walking Challenge	A Corunya, ESP	1:34:40
18	2017	20km Race Walk	Pan American Race Walking Cup	Lima, PER	1:38:40
22	2017	20km Race Walk	World Race Walking Challenge	A Corunya, ESP	1:37:52
23	2019	20km Race Walk	World Race Walking Challenge	A Corunya, ESP	1:33:00
38	2019	20km Race Walk	World Athletics Championships	Doha, QAT	1:46:42

Legend
SF - Semifinal, QF - Quarterfinal, 1R - 1st Round, Qual. - Qualification, QR - Qualification Round, DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, DQ - Disqualified, NM - No Mark, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not run in final

Gatita [Kitten] (Facebook profile, 20 May 2021)

Occupation:

Languages spoken:

Julio Urias [national]; Mynor Ortiz [national]

In October 2020 she suffered a hamstring injury, ruling her out of training and competing for three months. (resilienciagt.com, 09 May 2021)

She took up race walking at age 12. (guatemala.com, 11 Jul 2016)

She enjoyed running but began to learn race walking after being inspired by Guatemalan Julio Martinez setting a world record in the 20km walk in 1999 in Eisenhuttenstadt, Germany. (prensalibre.com, 31 May 2016)

To win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (prensalibre.com, 23 Mar 2021)

On a training day, she trains from 05:30 to 09:00 and 15:30 to 17:30 to fit around the needs of her son. (espn.com.ar, 10 May 2021)

Guatemala race walkers Julio Urias, Teresita Collado and Luis Garcia. (resilienciagt.com, 09 May 2021)

Her son Jose Angel. (espn.com.ar, 10 May 2021)

She always carries two photos of her son Jose Angel with her to every competition. (espn.com.ar, 10 May 2021)

Philosophy:

"I have always believed that discipline at some point beats talent." (prensalibre.com, 23 Mar 2021)

General Interest

General
MOTHERHOOD AND ATHLETICS
She admits that she has struggled to balance her commitments as a mother with her preparations as an athlete for the 2020 Olympic Games in Toyko. "Behind this qualification there is a lot of spiritual, mental and physical work. I've had to leave behind many things in my personal life and the most important thing has been not being present all the time for my son Jose Angel. I can tell you that there were tears, moments of uncertainty and, at some points, a little loss of faith and a desire to throw in the towel, but God always gives me the strength to shake that off and keep my head held high." (prensalibre.com, 23 Mar 2021)

SPORTING COMEBACK
She did not start competing in senior athletics competitions until 2011 at age 22. She had previously given up the sport in childhood to help provide financial support for her six siblings after her mother had been left a widow. "My mother had to emigrate to the United States of America because she was left a widow. She had to leave to help us financially. As a result, I gave up all sports and began to work, study and take care of my siblings, and it was not until 2011 that I returned to physical activity, specifically in race walking. A Cuban coach came to Guatemala and I received a call from him summoning me to return to sport because he was putting together a group of athletes, including [walkers] Erick Barrondo, Mirna Ortiz and Jamy Franco. It was incredulous because I had just had my son, and weighed 91 kilograms and thought I had no future in sport. But the coach gave me the opportunity and, little by little, I lost weight, improved and after, eight months, qualified for the 2012 London Olympics." (resilienciagt.com, 09 May 2021)

FUTURE PLANS
She hopes to become a race walking coach in the future. "Walking is what I want to do for the rest of my life. In the future I see myself as a coach helping many athletes progress, because there is talent in Guatemala." (espn.com.ar, 10 May 2021)

THROAT OPERATION
In November 2012 she underwent surgery to remove a benign tumour in her throat. The operation left her unable to talk for a year and she had to use a prosthetic implant to communicate. She still competed during 2013. (SportsDeskOnline, 26 May 2021; espn.com.ar, 10 May 2021; news.yahoo.com, 13 Aug 2013)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos