Gabriela Querejeta, a Star Athlete at the International Maxi Games

The International Maxi Games will feature a star athlete in track and field: Gabriela Querejeta, an outstanding athlete who recently won the gold medal in the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the 2nd Ibero-American Masters Track and Field Championships in Lima 2026.

Her story at that competition was straight out of a movie: she suffered a hard fall during the race, managed to recover, continued competing, and ended up winning nothing less than the gold medal.

She sums up her athletic career in her own words: “As a girl, I used to run with my dad (who was a soccer player back then)—that’s how I got started. I ran through the suburban neighborhoods, and when I got older, I had Daniel Díaz as my coach. Then I stepped away from the sport because of life itself; after the pandemic, I became a mom, and later I returned to the track. This year, I’m aiming to break the record in my category (8.10) set in 2000 in the hurdles. I do this sport out of passion, and it’s the time I set aside just for myself. I’m a mom, I work, I have a family, but on the track, I’m just Gaby.”

Gabriela, who thanks her sponsors Golden Fruit and Auto Sur, trains six days a week—“even seven,” she says. My daughter Jana (age 5) says she wants to compete like me so she can “give you the medals just like you give them to me,” she adds excitedly.

She also expresses that excitement when talking about the Maxi Games: “When I found out, I said, ‘I’ll be there.’ We often travel to all sorts of places to race. And it’s so exciting now to race at home with my dad watching me from the stands.”

Simple and a champion. A role model. Even though it’s her specialty, there’s no doubt that, for Gabriela, no obstacle stands in her way in track and field.