Domingo Enrique Tibaduiza Reyes (born November 22, 1950) is known in his native Colombia as an icon and pioneer of Colombian international athletics. A former long-distance elite runner, he represented Colombia at four consecutive Summer Olympic Games and won the Berlin Marathon.
Early life Originally from Sogamoso, Colombia, Tibaduiza grew up in Gámeza and was born to the town mayor Raul Antonio Tibaduiza Rodriguez and his wife Rosalba Tibaduiza Reyes, a local shopkeeper. His maternal ancestry is linked to the Colombian aristocratic Reyes Patria family and Juan José Reyes-Patria Escobar. He grew up in a family of seven children, Leonor, Mariem, Miguel, Rosalba, and Ángela.
Until 1962, Tibaduiza played soccer, and focused on the sport because his family did not have the means to buy him a bicycle. He looked up to his countryman Roberto "Pajarito" Buitrago, who was the first Boyacense to win the Vuelta a Colombia that year.
The following year, the family moved together to Bogotá, Colombia. Domingo entered the Nicolás Esguerra school, where he practiced soccer, basketball, and athletic races, encouraged by his professor, Demetrio Roa, who would later be a physical trainer of the Club Los Millonarios. His steps were followed by his siblings Miguel and Rosalba, who also became elite runners.
In 1967, he entered the Santander General School and received the support of established military athletes, such as Sergeant Manuel Cabrera and Corporal Luis Andrade. The following year, he participated in a memorable national youth championship held in Cartago, Valle del Cauca, where he was consecrated as the best national long-distance player in his category.
The following year, Tibaduiza pursued a military career. However, with the demands of the military, he had to leave athletics. He decided to attend the Escuela Militar General Santander and enroll in the physical education course at the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia in Bogotá.
Career In 1970 he won the 5,000-meter championship and finished as the runner-up of the 10,000-meter event at the National Games of Ibagué. That same year, he earned a gold medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1970 Bolivarian Games held in Caracas, Venezuela. These performances marked the beginning of a prominent career in South American, Central American and Pan American track and field athletics.
He represented Colombia in the 10,000 meters (1972 in Munich, 1976 in Montreal, 1980 in Moscow and 1984 in Los Angeles, in which Helmut Bellingrodt, the double Olympic medalist from Barranquilla, participated.), the 5000 metres (1976) and in the men's marathon (1980, 1984). He currently holds the Colombian national record 3000 metres, 10000 metres and 20000 metres.
He won elite road races in his career, with highlights including the 1982 Berlin Marathon, where he crossed the finish line in 2:14:46 to beat German runner Eberhardt Weyel (2:14:50) and the British runner Juan Offord (2:20:34), who occupied, in that same order, the other two places on the podium. He also won the 1982 America's Finest City Half Marathon and the Giro al Sas in 1978.Malcolm Heyworth et al (2010-10-12). Giro al Sas 10 km. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2010-11-05. He also had the South American marathon record, when he imposed 2:11:21 in New York, in 1983. He is part of that golden generation of Colombian athletics, in which there were also other athletes such as Silvio Salazar, Martín Pabón and Hernán Barreneche. His coach Álvaro Mejía Flórez is also a notable runner from Colombia. For the 2012 London Olympics, he trained athletes in Tunja, Colombia.
In 1979, Tibaduiza organized a unique event in the history of national athletics, the Pastas Doria Festival, which was attended by some of the best athletes in the world, such as David Moorcroft (first runner to go down from 13 minutes in the 5,000 meters), Sebastian Coe, Rodolfo Gómez, José Gómez and Renaldo Nehemiah.
In the eighties, Domingo Tibaduiza dedicated himself to pedestrian races. In the first half of 1981 he won the Auckland Marathon, New Zealand, and was second in teams, in the Marathon Beneva de Montréal, accompanied by Víctor Mora, Rafael Parra and Luis Barbosa. In 1982, he placed second in the San Francisco Marathon. In 1983, at the age of 35, he ran seven marathons including the Manila Marathon, where he placed first; the Stockholm Marathon, where he placed third; the Toronto Marathon, where he placed second; the Eugene Marathon, where he placed first; and the Frankfurt Marathon, where he placed first.
Education Tibaduiza attended the University of Nevada, Reno where he graduated in 1974. He is also inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame.
Personal life Domingo Tibaduiza and his elite distance running younger brother Miguel spent many years in Reno, Nevada, in the United States. Tibaduiza coached at Galena High School, where his team included his family of three sons and a daughter. Among them, the family name dominated distance race results in the area for decades, as the brothers advanced into Masters age divisions and the children excelled. He is also the uncle of Los Angeles–based artist Amadour, and a descendant of Juan José Reyes-Patria Escobar.
International competitions Representing 1970Bolivarian GamesMaracaibo, Venezuela1st10,000 m31:23.81971Pan American GamesCali, Colombia10th5000 m14:58.676th10,000 m30:52.65South American ChampionshipsLima, Peru3rd5000 m14:15.43rd10,000 m29:24.81972Olympic GamesMunich, West Germany32nd (h)10,000 m29:24.01974Central American and Caribbean GamesSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic5th5000 m14:11.21st10,000 m30:39.41975South American ChampionshipsRio de Janeiro, Brazil4th1500 m3:54.71st5000 m14:01.22nd10,000 m28:45.8Pan American GamesMexico City, Mexico1st5000 m14:02.00 3rd10,000 m29:25.451976Olympic GamesMontreal, Canada31st (h)5000 m13:49.4930th (h)10,000 m29:28.171977Central American and Caribbean ChampionshipsXalapa, Mexico2nd5000 m14:05.01st10,000 m30:17.4South American ChampionshipsMontevideo, Uruguay1st5000 m14:24.41st10,000 m29:44.2World CupDüsseldorf, West Germany8th5000 m14:13.31Saint Silvester Road RaceSão Paulo, Brazil1st8.9 km23:551978Central American and Caribbean GamesMedellín, Colombia2nd5000 m13:56.882nd10,000 m29:38.661979South American ChampionshipsBucaramanga, Colombia2nd5000 m14:03.42nd10,000 m28:51.21980Olympic GamesMoscow, Soviet Union –10,000 mDNF17thMarathon2:17:061981Montreal MarathonMontreal, Canada2ndMarathon2:12:221982Berlin MarathonBerlin, West Germany1stMarathon2:14:461983World ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland27th (h)10,000 m29:23.86Pan American GamesCaracas, Venezuela3rd5000 m13:59.682nd10,000 m29:17.12New York City MarathonNew York City, United States8thMarathon2:11.211984Olympic GamesLos Angeles, United States28th (h)10,000 m29:07.19 –MarathonDNF1986Boston MarathonBoston, United States7thMarathon2:15:221987Boston MarathonBoston, United States22ndMarathon2:21:35Pan American GamesIndianapolis, United States5th10,000 m29:34.211989Las Vegas MarathonLas Vegas, United States2ndMarathon2:13:14 1Representing the Americas
Personal bests 5000 metres — 13:29.67 (1978) 10,000 metres — 27:53.02 (1978) Marathon — 2:11:21 (1983)
References
ARRS profile