Ángel Barajas

2021

In 2021, Barajas competed at the Junior Pan American Championships, where he helped Colombia secure second place as a team. Individually, he won bronze medals in the all-around, floor exercise, and horizontal bar, and he claimed gold on the pommel horse.^[7]

2022

In late April, Barajas participated in the South American Youth Games, leading Colombia to team gold. He individually won gold in six of the seven events, missing out only on rings.^[4] In July, at the Pan American Championships, he helped Colombia finish fourth as a team. Individually, he won gold on the horizontal bar, silver in the all-around, floor exercise, and vault, and bronze on parallel bars.^[8][9]

2023

In late March, Barajas competed at the second Junior World Championships as the lone male Colombian delegate. On the first day, he qualified for the all-around final in first place and also made it to the finals for floor exercise, parallel bars, and horizontal bar.^[10][11] In the all-around final, he won silver, finishing behind Qin Guohuan of China. In the apparatus finals, Barajas secured gold medals on floor exercise and parallel bars, and a bronze on horizontal bar.^[12] With four medals, he left Antalya as the most decorated athlete.^[13]

2024

Barajas became eligible for senior competition in 2024. He made his senior debut at the Cairo World Cup in mid-February, where he qualified for the parallel bars and horizontal bar finals. He won bronze on the horizontal bar, finishing behind Tang Chia-hung and Joe Fraser, and placed eighth on parallel bars.^[14] At the conclusion of the World Cup series, Barajas earned an individual Olympic berth for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.^[15]

At the Olympic Games, Barajas competed in the parallel bars and horizontal bar. During qualifications, he qualified for the horizontal bar final and was the third reserve for the parallel bars final. On the final day of competition for artistic gymnastics, Barajas scored 14.533 on the horizontal bar—the highest score of the day. However, he lost the execution score tie-breaker to Shinnosuke Oka, earning the silver medal. This achievement made Barajas the first Colombian gymnast to win an Olympic medal.^[16][17]

After winning the Olympic silver medal, Barajas was awarded a full scholarship to attend the University of Santander^[18] and was also given an apartment in Cúcuta.^[19] For his Olympic feat Barajas was named Athlete of the Year by the Colombian Olympic Committee.^[20]

2025

Barajas competed at the 2025 Pan American Championships where he finished fifth on horizontal bar and seventh in the all-around, on rings, and on parallel bars.^[21] In September he competed at the World Challenge Cups in Paris and Szombathely. At the former he won silver on parallel bars behind Joe Fraser and placed fifth on horizontal bar and at the latter he won silver on horizontal bar behind Milad Karimi.^[22] Barajas ended the season competing at the 2025 World Championships where he qualified to the all-around and parallel bars finals. He placed sixth in the all-around, earning Colombia's best all-around placement at a World Championships, beating Jossimar Calvo's tenth place finish in 2014, and placed fourth on parallel bars.^[23]

2026

Barajas began the year competing at the 2026 Cottbus World Cup where he won silver on horizontal bar behind Shohei Kawakami.^[24] At the Baku World Cup, Barajas won his first World Cup gold, doing so on the parallel bars. Additionally he won bronze on horizontal bar.^[25][26] At the Antalya World Cup, Barajas won a pair of silver medals on the parallel bars and horizontal bar.^[27] Barajas ended the World Cup series winning gold on parallel bars and bronze on horizontal bar in Osijek. As a result he was the overall series winner on the parallel bars.^[28]