This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Sarah Dickson

Ambassador to Guatemala (June 2012 - June 2015)

Part of UK in Guatemala

26th July 2013

Inspired by London 2012

Can it really be one year since the London Olympics!? To tell us how we are celebrating the anniversary, we have a guest blog from our very own Sigrid Pineda. Over to you Sigrid.

When I started to think about this blog, I thought what inspires us?  What is it that makes us want to be better and do GREAT things?  How can we achieve our dreams?

I realized that we are inspired by people (anyone really, they don’t have to be famous) who achieve great things.  People perhaps that have done something wonderful for their country, and in my case, I immediately thought of Erick Barrondo who on Sunday 4 August 2012 won Guatemala’s first ever Olympic  medal when he won silver in the 20km walk at the London 2012 Olympic Games. You can check the Olympic Legacy video here:

I also thought about all other GREAT Olympic athletes that had trained for years who had put their personal and family lives on hold and devoted themselves to being the best at their chosen sport, and how all of them are a role model for their countries, especially children who dream about  being the next Erick Barrondo.

And that is why on Sunday 1 September here in Guatemala City we will be commemorating the winning of Guatemala’s first Olympic medal, and celebrating the first anniversary of London 2012. We plan to do it in style. And also in a way that we hope inspires more people to take up sport. We’re teaming up with none other than Erick Barrondo himself and the Guatemalan Olympic Committee to organize a 5km race around the city.  The aim of the race is to raise funds to help Erick Barrondo’s charity organization that helps poor children get into sport.

We hope to have at least 1,000 participants from all ages doing the race, and besides having some exercise, they will have the opportunity to have pictures with Erick Barrondo, and also to win some prizes in our raffle that we and the sponsors are organizing.

If you are interested in participating or sponsoring, please write to us at embassy@intelnett.com so we can send you details on how to subscribe.

We hope to see you all there!

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