Gabriela Kimberly García León (born 19 October 1993) is a female racewalker from Peru. She won gold medals in the 20 kilometres walk and 35 km walk at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, becoming the first ever Peruvian world medallist and the first Latin American to earn two titles at the same World Athletics Championships. García is the South American record holder for the longer event.

She represented Peru in the women's 20 kilometres walk at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She also holds three Peruvian national records (10,000 m walk, 10 km walk and 20 km walk).

Early life Kimberly García comes from the Inca nation and was born in Huancayo in central Peru. Her family has always been linked to race walking, so she started training when she was 5 years old, following in the footsteps of her cousin.

Career As a 12-year-old García won the 5 kilometres race walk at the Peruvian Race Walking Under-18 Championships and Peruvian U18 Championships. Three years later, in 2009, she took victory in the 10 km walk U20 event of the Peruvian Race Walking Championships. She was seventh at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore (5000 m walk).

At 19, she claimed the gold medal in the 20 km walk at the 2013 Pan American Race Walking Cup. García won also the event at the 2014 South American Race Walking Championships. In May that year, she set her first South American record (20 km) in Taicang, China. García placed 14th in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. After the Games, she considered retiring from professional athletics due to the lack of support from private companies.

In 2017, she achieved the highest position of Peruvian athlete in a World Athletics Championships, finishing seventh in the 20 km walk at the Championships in London.

In 2019, García won the silver medal in the event at the Pan American Games staged in Lima. In December that year, she was named Athlete of the Year by the Peruvian Athletics Sport Federation.

She qualified for the event but failed to finish the 20 km walk at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

2022: Double world champion in Oregon In March, the 28-year-old finished third in the 20 km walk at the World Race Walking Team Championships held in Muscat, Oman. In April, she broke the South American record in the 35 km walk with a time of 2:43:19 for second at the Dudinská Päťdesiatka meeting in Dudince, Slovakia.

At the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon in July, García first won 20 km walk in a national record, becoming the first ever medallist from Peru in championships history and ending longer than 10 years Chinese dominance in the event. Seven days later, she added second title for the 35 km walk, improving her own South American record and becoming the first woman to earn two racewalking titles at one global championships. García also became the first Latin American to win two gold medals at the same World Athletics Championships. In November, she was shortlisted for the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year award.

2023–present: 35 km walk world record Kimberly got her 2023 campaign off to a strong start on 25 March, setting a 35 km walk world record with a time of 2:37:44 at the Dudinska 50. She made clear that 2022 was no flash in the pan and sliced two seconds off the previous fastest mark for the distance. It was the first world record in the event after it became a standard championship discipline in 2022 and 2:38:00 was set as the standard. In August, Kimberly won the silver medal in the 35 km athletic walk at the World Championships in Budapest.

Personal bests Event Result Venue DateTrack walk5,000 m 22:57.4 min Lima, Peru 14 May 201110,000 m 42:45.06 min Lima, Peru 30 May 2026Road walk 5 km 24:24 min Cochabamba, Bolivia 6 March 201010 km 43:23 min Suzhou, China 25 September 201720 km 1:26:22 hrs Tokyo, Japan 20 September 202535 km 2:37:44 hrs Dudince, Slovakia 25 March 2023Half marathon walk 1:31:44 hrs Poděbrady, Czech Republic 8 May 2026

International competitions 2009World Youth ChampionshipsBrixen, Italy–5000 m walk2010South American U18 Race Walking ChampionshipsCochabamba, Bolivia1st5 km walk24:24World Race Walking Cup, U20 eventsChihuahua City, Mexico22nd10 km walk54:02Youth Olympic GamesBishan, Singapore7th5000 m walk23:17.04South American Youth ChampionshipsSantiago, Chile2nd5000 m walk23:25.762011Pan American Race Walking Cup, U20 eventsBarcelona, Spain2nd10 km walk49:13South American U20 Championships in AthleticsMedellín, Colombia–10,000 m walkDQ2012South American Race Walking Championships, U20 eventsSalinas, Ecuador4th10 km walk47:57World Race Walking Cup, U20 eventsSaransk, Russia11th10 km walk47:56World Junior ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain10th10,000 m walk47:42.49SB2013Pan American Race Walking CupGuatemala City, Guatemala1st20 km walk1:35:01South American Race Walking ChampionshipsCartagena, Colombia–20,000 m walkDQWorld ChampionshipsBeijing, China31st20 km walk1:33:57Bolivarian GamesTrujillo, Peru3rd20 km walk1:34:292014South American Race Walking ChampionshipsCochabamba, Bolivia1st20 km walk1:35:34World Race Walking CupTaicang, China24th20 km walk1:29:44Ibero-American ChampionshipsSão Paulo, Brazil3rd10,000 m walk43:57.442015Pan American Race Walking CupArica, Chile2nd20 km walk1:31:13South American Race Walking ChampionshipsLima, Peru–20,000 m walkDQPan American GamesToronto, Canada5th20 km walk1:32:45World ChampionshipsBeijing, China–20 km walk2016South American Race Walking ChampionshipsGuayaquil, Ecuador8th20 km walk1:38:21World Race Walking Team ChampionshipsRome, Italy12th20 km walk1:29:38NROlympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil14th20 km walk1:32:092017Pan American CupLima, Peru2nd20 km walk1:29:15World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom7th20 km walk1:29:13 Bolivarian GamesSanta Marta, Colombia2nd20 km walk1:33:072018South American Race Walking ChampionshipsSucúa, Ecuador3rd20 km walk1:32:48World Team ChampionshipsTaicang, China8th20 km walk1:28:56 13th 20 km walk (team)151 ptsSouth American GamesCochabamba, Bolivia1st20 km walk1:33:11Ibero-American ChampionshipsTrujillo, Peru2nd10,000 m walk42:56.97 2019Pan American Cup Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico 1st 20 km walk 1:29:33Pan American GamesLima, Peru2nd20 km walk1:29:002021Olympic GamesSapporo, Japan20 km walkDNF2022South American Race Walking ChampionshipsLima, Peru2nd20 km walk1:32:00World Team ChampionshipsMuscat, Oman3rd20 km walk1:32:27Ibero-American ChampionshipsLa Nucia, Spain2nd10,000 m walk43:41.50World ChampionshipsEugene, OR, United States1st20 km walk1:26:58 1st35 km walk2:39:16, 2023World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary4th20 km walk1:27:322nd35 km walk2:40:52Pan American GamesSantiago, Chile1st20 km walk2nd Marathon walk relay3:01:142024World Team ChampionshipsAntalya, Turkey1st20 km walk1:27:12 2nd 20 km walk (team)15 ptsOlympic GamesParis, France16th20 km walk1:30:104thMarathon walk relay2:51:562025World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan 5th20 km walk1:26:22 10th 35 km walk2:50:37Bolivarian GamesLima, Peru1st Half marathon walk1:35:10, 2026World Team Championships Brasília, Brazil 1st Half marathon walk1:35:00 CR4th Half marathon walk (team)37 pts Ibero-American ChampionshipsLima, Peru 1st10,000 m walk42:45.06

See also Peru at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics Peru at the 2022 World Athletics Championships

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