Armijo High graduate to go for gold at Tokyo Olympic Games on Friday
(Photo courtesy Luis Grijalva via Instagram; Graphic by Solano NewsNet)
An Armijo High School graduate is going for gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games this week.
Luis Grijalva, now a student at Northern Arizona University, will represent Guatemala when he competes in the Men’s 5,000-Meter Finals track and field event early Friday morning.
Grijalva almost didn’t make it to Tokyo: His status as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient meant he risked possible deportation if he traveled outside the country.
Friends and associates lobbied for a special permit on his behalf, and with the assistance of a federal lawmaker, he was granted a special travel authorization by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) just before the Olympic Games.
Grijalva and his family came to the United States when the athlete was just three years old, settling into Fairfield, where his father took a job at a cabinet factory while washing cars on the side.
Later in life, he stayed with his father in Fairfield when the rest of his family moved back to Guatemala. He became a student at Armijo High School where he fell in love with track and field.
Matthew Pence, Grijalva’s former coach at Armijo High, described the Olympian as a “ridiculously fast runner” in an interview with Sacramento NBC station KCRA-TV (Channel 3).
“We didn’t know he was going to be quite that good,” Pence said.
That is an understatement: While at Armijo High School, Grijalva set new school records and won state championships. His efforts earned him a full scholarship to Northern Arizona University and later a contract with shoe company Hoka Hoka One.
At the Olympic Trials in Oregon last month, Grijalva was the fastest athlete to compete on behalf of his native Guatemala, clocking in nearly 30 seconds faster than the next-closest athlete from that country, according to the New York Times.
Speaking with Phoenix NBC affiliate KPNX (Channel 12), Grijalva said the opportunity to compete on the world stage was a dream come true.
“It feels surreal that I’m actually going to compete for Guatemala in the Olympic Games,” he said. “I’m just really excited.”
In Tokyo, Grijalva finished in 10th place at a qualifier event on Tuesday, earning him a spot at the finals on Friday.
The Men’s 5,000-Meter Final will stream live on NBCOlympics.com at 5 a.m. on Friday and replay during NBC’s prime-time Olympic Games coverage later in the evening (NBC is available on KCRA-TV Channel 3 in most of Solano County and KNTV Channel 11 in Vallejo and Benicia).
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