Guatemala once again paraded with its flag at the opening ceremony of the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games, led by taekwondoist María Alejandra Higueros and swimmer Erick Gordillo, flag bearers of a delegation of 477 athletes, the largest that the country has presented in the history of these events.
The parade marked the return of Guatemala to the Central American and Caribbean Games with its national symbols, after in the San Salvador 2023 edition its athletes competed under the representation of Centro Caribe Sports due to the suspension imposed on the Guatemalan Olympic Committee (COG).
The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted that suspension in March 2024, allowing the country to return to competitions in the Olympic cycle with its flag, including the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
According to the COG, the Guatemalan delegation is made up of 213 women and 267 men, who will compete in 38 of the 40 sports included in the official program of the Games, which will be held from July 24 to August 8 in Santo Domingo.
The national representation includes the participation of Olympic medalists Adriana Ruano, champion in women’s pit shooting with hunting weapons in Paris 2024, and Jean Pierre Brol, winner of bronze in men’s pit in that same Olympic edition. Also part of the delegation is badminton player Kevin Cordón, who has won eight gold medals in the history of the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Walker Erick Barrondo, silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games, will not compete in Santo Domingo after the organization canceled the men’s marathon walk event for not meeting the minimum number of participants, according to the National Athletics Sports Federation.
The inauguration of this edition coincides with the centenary of the Central American and Caribbean Games, whose first edition was held in 1926. Guatemala was part of that inaugural event along with Mexico and Cuba, the three founding countries of the oldest regional sports competition in the world.