Iconic Latina Athlete Spotlight: Ana Guevara

If you grew up in the early 2000s and know anything about track and field, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name Ana Guevara. 

Born to Octavio Guevara and Ana María Espinoza in 1977 in Nogales, Sonora, Guevara’s name quickly became synonymous with the 400 meter race. 

After beginning her career in 1996, she began to get noticed and won two silver medals (in the 400 and 800 meters) at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games. 

After deciding (at the behest of her trainer Raul Barreda) to focus exclusively on the 400, Guevara attained her first major victory at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Canada, where she won gold in the 400. 

Riding the momentum of that victory, she went into the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with high hopes of earning a spot on the podium. 

She finished 5th in the 400 meters, and, although she fell short of her goal, she still managed to break the 50-second barrier, finishing the race in 49.96 seconds.

Failing to medal turned out to be the best thing that could have happened, as it triggered a competitive streak in her that led her to win 28 consecutive international races, before finally finishing second in a 2004 competition in Rome.

As her legend grew, Guevara wanted to make sure and set the right example for the female youth of Mexico.

“I said one day I want to be a successful woman in sports, because I don’t have examples of women in sports,” she told the Guardian in 2015. “One of the things that people ask me a lot is ‘What is the secret?’ There is no secret. You have to believe in you.”

She went into the 2004 Athens games as the overwhelming favorite to win gold, but ultimately had to settle for silver, finishing only behind Tonique Williams-Darling of the Bahamas.

Issues with the then Mexican Athletics Federation president Mariano Lara amid a fight for better working conditions led her to retire in 2008 after she declined to compete in the Beijing Olympics.

“I leave disappointed, tired of not achieving the results I wanted,” she told the New York Times in 2008. “I thought I could change the situation, but dirty politics continue, and that is why I’m leaving. I hope people understand how big the problem is…I lost my spark, but I leave content. I leave very happy, but I don’t have any other option but to retire…”

Guevara is widely considered to be the greatest Mexican female athlete of all time, and she was voted the ninth most influential Hispanic woman in the history of sports by ESPN in 2013.

“I have had the luck to make my career in Mexico and become an example in my country,” she told The Guardian. “This is one of the advantages of being a successful athlete in Mexico. People have respect for me and they trust me.”

After retiring, Guevara followed her political ambitions and served as a Mexican senator from 2012 to 2018.

Cuando los hechos hablan más que mil palabras, seguimos adelante esto es muestra que la transformación de México late desde el corazón del País.
Felicidades Presidente @lopezobrador_ Siempre un Honor #zocalo #AmloElMejorPresidenteDelMundo #CDMX #AMLO pic.twitter.com/C9AhfkyuUp

— AnaGuevara (@AnaGGuevara) December 2, 2021