Rafael Romero

From the late 1950s until the mid-1960s Rafael Romero was one of the best sprinters from Venezuela and won multiple medals at international competitions. Romero was part of the quartet that won silver in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the Pan American Games in 1959 and 1963, but his biggest result came in the 200 metres at the 1963 Games when he won the gold medal. At the Central American and Caribbean Games he won three gold medals, with two in the 4 x 100 metres relay (1959, 1962) and an individual win in the 200 metres in 1962.

Romero competed at three Olympic Games, with his first appearance coming in 1956 in Melbourne. He ran in the 100 and 200 metres, as well as the 4 x 100 metres relay, and had the honour of being the flagbearer for Venezuela at the Opening Ceremony. Four years later at the 1960 Roma Olympics he was once again the flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony, with him reaching the quarter-finals in both the 100 and 200 metres. Romero was part of the quartet that ran in the final of the 4 x 100 metres, where the Venezuelan team finished fifth, ahead of the much-favoured US team who were disqualified. His third and final Olympic appearance came at the 1964 Tokyo Games where once again he ran in the final of the 4 x 100 metres relay, where the team finished sixth, ahead of Italy and Great Britain. For his achievement in athletics Romero was inducted into the Venezuelan Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.2 (1961); 200 – 20.8 (1960).