Colombia
2020
A national lockdown from March, the region's championships called off, the Games moved a year — and a champion who postponed her own retirement to wait for them.
Colombia's 2020 athletics season was erased: compulsory national isolation from 25 March under Decree 457, the Ibero-American Championships in Tenerife cancelled in May, and the Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021 — which pushed Caterine Ibargüen, who had planned to retire after those Games, to wait a year.
This is the season as a bridge over a hole: Doha 2019 on one bank (Zambrano's 44.15 South American record, Ibargüen's bronze), Tokyo 2021 on the other (two more silvers and a goodbye) — and a Colombia 2020 Olympic-cycle piece in this archive.
Part of our Season Series — one year at a time. The full national story is in The History of Athletics in Colombia. Jump to the 2020 kit or browse the collection.
- 25 March 2020
- Colombia enters compulsory preventive isolation (Decree 457) — movement restricted nationwide
- May 2020
- The Ibero-American Championships in Tenerife, 29 delegations, are cancelled
- The Games
- Tokyo postponed to 2021 — Ibargüen postpones her retirement by a year
- The near bank
- Doha 2019: Zambrano 400 m silver, 44.15, South American record — Colombia's first world track medal
- The near bank
- Doha 2019: Ibargüen bronze in the triple jump
- The far bank
- Tokyo 2021: Zambrano silver, 44.08; Arenas silver in the 20 km walk — a first for Colombian walking
- The goodbye
- Ibargüen: 10th at 14.25, then retirement in August 2021 at 37 — Olympic champion 2016, twice world champion
- Kit
- No federation deal on record — the archive's piece is a 2020 Olympic-cycle polo, read from its own labels
The Season That Did Not Happen
Some seasons are told by results. This one has to be told by what was cancelled. On 25 March 2020, Colombia entered compulsory preventive isolation under Decree 457, with movement restricted across the country and domestic flights suspended; the quarantine was extended again and again into late August. In May, the Ibero-American Championships in Tenerife — the region's big date, 29 delegations — were called off. And the Olympic Games, the whole point of the cycle, moved to 2021.
Hover or tab on a bank. Sources: Colombian Decree 457 (Función Pública); Gobierno de Canarias; World Athletics; Wikipedia. Verified August 2026.
The two banks (table)
| Where | What |
|---|---|
| Doha 2019 | Zambrano — 400 m SILVER, 44.15, South American record and Colombia's first track medal at a Worlds |
| Doha 2019 | Ibargüen — triple jump BRONZE |
| 2020 | Compulsory national lockdown from 25 March (Decree 457); Ibero-American Championships in Tenerife cancelled; the Olympics postponed to 2021 |
| 2020 | Ibargüen, who had said she would retire after Tokyo, postponed her retirement by a year |
| Tokyo 2021 | Zambrano — 400 m Olympic SILVER, 44.08 |
| Tokyo 2021 | Arenas — 20 km walk SILVER, the first Olympic medal for Colombian race walking; Ibargüen 10th, and retired in August at 37 |
For Caterine Ibargüen the postponement had a specific cost. She had said she would retire after Tokyo; in April 2020 she announced she would wait a year instead — at 36, with an Olympic title from Rio, two world titles and the 2018 World Athlete of the Year award already behind her. A year of a career is a lot to hand over to a calendar.
What Stood on Either Side
The bridge has two solid banks. On the near one, Doha 2019: Anthony Zambrano took 400 m silver in 44.15, a South American record that took 0.14 off a mark from 1999, coming from five places back in the straight — the first Colombian medal on the track at a World Championships. Ibargüen added triple jump bronze.
On the far bank, Tokyo 2021: Zambrano again silver, 44.08, again behind Steven Gardiner; and Sandra Lorena Arenas silver in the 20 km walk — the first Olympic medal Colombian race walking had ever won. Ibargüen finished tenth in the triple at 14.25 and announced her retirement that August, at 37. Two medals on each side, and a hollow year in between that produced none.
From this season · in the archiveNike Colombia Olympic Team Pro Elite 2020 Polo ShirtColombia Olympic team polo marked for the 2020 cycle — issued for a Games that did not happen that year.90,00 €View piece →The Kit — Read From the Garment
We could not document a kit supplier deal for the Colombian athletics federation in this cycle — the Nike agreement that comes up in searches belongs to Colombian football. What the archive holds is a Nike-marked Colombia Olympic team polo carrying the 2020 cycle: issue for a Games that, in 2020, did not take place. We describe it from its own labels and leave the contract question open.
Attribution policy: with no documented federation deal, the garment's own marks are the only claim we print. This piece is marked for the 2020 Olympic cycle — the cycle that had to wait a year.
Zambrano, incidentally, has not been sanctioned — the suspended Zambrano who turns up in searches is a footballer. He spent 2025 recovering in Barranquilla with 2026 as the target. The whole national story is in our history of athletics in Colombia.
Colombia 2020
A Colombia Olympic team piece marked for the 2020 cycle — issue for a Games that, in 2020, did not take place.
What happened to Colombian athletics in 2020?
The season was cancelled around it: national compulsory isolation from 25 March under Decree 457, the Ibero-American Championships in Tenerife called off in May, and the Tokyo Olympics postponed to 2021.
Why did Caterine Ibargüen postpone her retirement?
She had said she would retire after the Tokyo Games. When they moved to 2021 she announced, in April 2020, that she would wait a year — and she did, finishing tenth in the final and retiring that August at 37.
What were Colombia's medals on either side of 2020?
Doha 2019: Anthony Zambrano's 400 m silver in a South American record 44.15 and Ibargüen's triple jump bronze. Tokyo 2021: Zambrano's Olympic 400 m silver in 44.08 and Sandra Lorena Arenas's 20 km walk silver, the first Olympic medal for Colombian race walking.
What kit did Colombia wear in this cycle?
No supplier deal for the Colombian athletics federation is documented — the Nike contract usually cited belongs to Colombian football. The Colombia collection holds an Olympic team polo marked for the 2020 cycle, described from its own labels.
Sources and References
- Función Pública — Decree 457 of 2020 — the compulsory preventive isolation from 25 March
- Gobierno de Canarias — Tenerife 2020 cancelled — the cancellation of the Ibero-American Championships
- Infobae — Ibargüen postpones her retirement — the extra year she waited for Tokyo
- World Athletics — Zambrano’s Doha silver — the 44.15 South American record and the first Colombian world track medal
- El Espectador — Arenas’s Olympic silver — the first Olympic medal for Colombian race walking