Colombia Adds Gold and Bronze BMX Medals to Their List · Global Voices
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This post is part of our special coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.
Colombia showed real excitement with respect to the last two medals that were won in the BMX (Bicycle motocross) competition by Mariana Pajón, who won the second gold medal in Colombia's Olympic history, and Carlos Oquendo, who won the bronze. With these two achievements, Colombia totaled eight medals in the London 2012 games.
Colombians responded and expressed themselves on Twitter with particularly patriotic sentiments. Felipe Londoño (@FelipeLondoo2) [es], for example, thanked both athletes for the good image they have given to the country:
@FelipeLondoo2: Mariana Pajón y Carlos Oquendo hacen quedar hoy el Nombre del País en alto. MUCHAS GRACIAS
Mariana Pajón. Photo from Flickr user smokeghost under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Alejandra Echeverry (@AlejaEcheverryA) [es] used the provincial government of Antioquia's official hashtag to mention that the two athletes were born in that region:
@AlejaEcheverryA: Mariana Pajon y Carlos Mario Oquendo Son de Antioquia #FelizCumpleañosAntioquia
Jenny Cruz García (@Jenny_CruzGarci) [es] valued the joy that the two BMX riders’ achievement has produced:
@Jenny_CruzGarci: La felicidad que Mariana Pajón y Carlos Mario Oquendo hoy nos dieron a los colombianos, no tiene precio. #Grandes
The blogosphere has also been actively following these olympic triumphs. While the blog Mundo Deportivo highlighted [es] the two medals, the blog Deporte stressed [es] the fact that Mariana Pajón's medal is the second gold medal in Colombia's history in the Olympics.
They also looked back at the achievements in these games in the same post, and confirmed that this was the country's best performance in their 80 years of Olympic participation:
Un oro, tres platas, cuatro bronces y catorce diplomas olímpicos, además de 104 atletas compitiendo en los Juegos Olímpicos (delegación más grande de la historia) confirman que Londres 2012 es la mejor participación colombiana en la historia de los Juegos Olímpicos.
On Sunday, August 12, Mariana Pajón (@marianapajon) [es] shared her excitement about carrying the Colombian flag during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games:
@marianapajon: Para cerrar con broche de oro + orgullosa no puedo estar al llevar mi bandera en la clausura, unos juegos in http://instagr.am/p/OP4e6ZDEGA/
This post is part of our special coverage of the London 2012 Olympics.