Julio César León
 León at the 1948 Olympics | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 February 1925 Trujillo, Venezuela |
| Died | 17 August 2025 (aged 100) Caracas, Venezuela |
Julio César León (2 February 1925 – 17 August 2025) was a Venezuelan cyclist who competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.[1] He was the first sportsperson from Venezuela to take part in the Olympic Games,[2][3] He was eliminated in the second round of the sprint,[4] being beaten by the eventual gold medalist, Italian Mario Ghella[5] In the 1000 metres time trial, he finished 14th with a time of 1:18.1.[6]
At the Cycling World Championships in France in 1947, León qualified for the top eight in the sprint with a time of 10.9 seconds. After the Olympics he joined the Italian team Bianchi. He once cycled from Caracas to Maracay in two hours and forty minutes. He broke the record for Team Pursuit with his teammate Domingo Rivas y Montilla in the Teo Capriles Velodrome at the National Institute of Sport with a time of 4 minutes, 40 seconds in the 4,000 m event at a rate of 1 minute and 10 seconds per kilometer. Julio César was a Bolivarian, Central American, and Pan-American champion on two occasions and was also a champion in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.
In 1959, Caracas, Venezuela, hosted the Central American and Caribbean Games for the first time, and León went on to win the gold medal in the 1 km track event and the silver medal in the track sprint.[7]
León was an engineering graduate from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). The Weight Training Gymnasium of the Ministry of Sports in Venezuela bears his name. On February 2, 2025 he turned 100.[8]
Julio César León died at his home in Caracas, on 17 August 2025, at the age of 100.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Julio César León". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
- ^ "Embassy invites first Venezuelan Olympian to return to London". British Embassy in Caracas. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- ^ Alberto Egea took part in the Art competitions at the 1932 Summer Olympics.
- ^ Cycling at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Sprint Round Two
- ^ The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. Printed by McCorquodale & Co. Ltd., St. Thomas Street, London, S.E.I: The Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad • London • 1948. 1951. p. 766.
- ^ Cycling at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's 1,000 metres Time Trial
- ^ Cesar Leon, Julio. "Julio César León". cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "Julio César León, El Primer Deportista Olímpico De Venezuela, Cumple 100 Años". Barron's (in European Spanish). AFP. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
- ^ Gonzalez, Hender (18 August 2025). "Fallece Julio César León a los 100 años, pionero del ciclismo olímpico Venezolano". Noticias Barquisimeto (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2025.