00:00Last week, Colombia experienced one of those days that can change history.
00:04For the first time, their men's artistic gymnastics team competed in a final of the
00:09world team competition and finished among the top eight in the world.
00:13Perhaps many don't grasp the full significance of this, but Ángel Barajas, Camilo Vera, Tomás Mejía,
00:18Jormán Álvarez, Jan Zavala and Juan Felipe Ramos achieved something extraordinary in
00:23one of the most prestigious and demanding sports in the world.
00:27The Rotterdam World Cup, however, also left a bitter taste.
00:32Colombia returned without medals, and the falls of Ángel Barajas and Camilo were especially painful.
00:39Vera in the horizontal bar final.
00:41It seemed that the first senior world gold medal was within reach, but it slipped away due to a couple of mistakes.
00:47However, their stories help us understand why these falls are not a failure and
00:54Why had the future of Colombian gymnastics never aroused so much excitement?
00:59It all started in Cúcuta, where a boy dreamed of becoming Sportacus, the character from
01:06Lazy Town, who also performed impossible stunts.
01:09Ángel Barajas jumped off the furniture and did somersaults all over the house, until his mother
01:14decided to take him to practice gymnastics.
01:17He was shy, afraid to start, but he ended up finding his place in the world.
01:22And he also found an idol, Josimar Calvo.
01:25He was the first great figurehead of Colombian gymnastics before the international elite.
01:31In 2011 he won the gold medal in the all-around competition at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara.
01:36Four years later he won three titles in Toronto and at the 2016 Rio Olympics
01:42He finished tenth among the best gymnasts on the planet.
01:45He was also from Cúcuta and a disciple of Jairo Ruiz.
01:49Ángel grew up admiring him, listening to his advice and dreaming of repeating his feats.
01:55Today, that legend who inspired him became his coach.
01:59The idol and the boy who wanted to imitate him work together to take Colombia even further.
02:05Barajas fulfilled many of his dreams too soon.
02:09In 2022 he won seven gold medals at the South American Youth Games.
02:14And in 2023 she dazzled at the Junior World Championships in Türkiye, where she won four medals, two of them gold.
02:21Then came his first podium finishes in the World Cup, with three bronze medals in 2024 helping him pave the way.
02:28towards Paris.
02:29There, at just 17 years old, she won the first Olympic medal in the history of Colombian gymnastics.
02:34A silver medal on the horizontal bar, which seemed impossible.
02:38And it didn't stop.
02:39In 2025 he won more medals in World Cup competitions and finished sixth in the all-around competition at the World Championships
02:47from Jakarta.
02:48In addition to being fourth in parallel bars.
02:50In 2026 he conquered the tournaments in Baku and Croatia.
02:53He won 12 medals on the world circuit and arrived in Rotterdam firmly established among the best in the world.
02:59There he finished fifth in the world in the all-around competition, the best Colombian result in history.
03:06Behind that transformation is Jairo Ruiz, the teacher who for more than four decades has turned Cúcuta into
03:15the great breeding ground of national gymnastics.
03:18Despite economic limitations, poor facilities and insufficient resources, it has trained entire generations of champions.
03:26First there was Josimar, then Barajas.
03:29And when it seemed impossible that another similar talent could emerge from the same school, Camilo Vera appeared.
03:36Their story also began amidst difficulties.
03:39When he was a child, he had to move with his family to Catatumbo,
03:43where his father improvised a training space with sticks, cement and bricks so that he would not abandon his dream.
03:49Afterwards he returned to Cúcuta and continued his training with Ruiz.
03:52In 2025 he won three gold medals at the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción and months later became a double world junior champion
04:02in Manila, Philippines, on parallel bars and horizontal bar.
04:06He was only 18 years old and was already following in Barajas' footsteps.
04:10In Rotterdam, Vera reached three finals, including the horizontal bar final, in which he finished sixth, one place
04:17ahead of Barajas.
04:18Both fell when Colombia was dreaming of a medal, but they are only 19 and 20 years old.
04:25Their careers are just beginning and their ultimate goal is Los Angeles 2028, where they hope to reach the pinnacle of success.
04:32Because none of those falls erases what has been achieved.
04:35In Rotterdam, two gymnasts ended up on the floor, but Colombia reached a height it had never reached before.
04:42And perhaps that's the best way to understand what's coming, a generation that is still learning how far
04:49It can fly.
