Ricardo Burgos Spangen was born on 4 March 1965. His younger brother is fellow cross-country skier Dag Burgos.[1][2] They were born to a Norwegian mother named Bertha and studied in Norway.[3]
Guatemala would compete at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, for their first appearance at the Winter Games.[4] Ricardo and his brother would compete and represent the nation at these Games, competing in two cross-country skiing events at the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park.[5][6]
Both of them would first compete in the men's 30 kilometre classical event on 15 February 1988 in a field of 90 competing athletes. There, Ricardo would place 83rd out of the 87 competitors that completed the course. He would finish with a time of 1:51:19.4, 26:53.1 away from winner Alexey Prokurorov of the Soviet Union.[6] He would then compete in the men's 15 kilometre classical event four days later on 19 February 1988 in a field of 90 competing athletes. There, Burgos would place 81st out of the 85 competitors that completed the course. He would finish with a time of 55:16.3, placing just behind his brother. The winner of the event would be Mikhail Devyatyarov of the Soviet Union who had finished with a time of 41:18.9.[5]