Daniela Larreal

Daniela Greluis Larreal Chirinos (2 October 1973 – 11 August 2024) was a Venezuelan track cyclist – a five-time Olympian considered one of Venezuela's most important sportspeople and the leading Venezuelan cyclist for over two decades. She had a brief road cycling career in the 1990s, and set the Olympic record for women's track time trial in 2000. She spent the last eight years of her life in exile.

Competing mainly in American competitions, she achieved over 35 international medals in her career; there were 24 years between her first and last podium finishes. She also raced in the UCI Track Cycling World Cup, medalling in various stages. In the later years of her career, Venezuela fell into a state of crisis, with Larreal critical of corruption among sporting bodies. Under the presidency of Nicolás Maduro, Larreal became more widely critical of how her country was run. Her activism saw her forced into exile in the United States, where she joined the Venezuelan political opposition.

Early and personal life

Daniela Greluis Larreal Chirinos was born on 2 October 1973 in Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela, the daughter of cyclist Daniel Larreal, who won a silver medal at the 1971 Pan American Games and was considered the best cyclist in Venezuelan history. She was also Indigenous. Her father introduced her to cycling; she was already fast on a velodrome track when young and began competing when she was 8, representing the Capital District in the 1986 youth Vuelta de Lara. She preferred swimming as a child and was the Venezuelan junior freestyle swimming champion over both 50m and 100m when she was 13. She then began training seriously in track cycling in 1989. At one point, Larreal began studying police science but put this aside to focus on cycling. She later completed a degree in physical education in Venezuela, having studied alongside her career. When she moved to the United States, she started a two-year course for the equivalent qualification.

Like other successful athletes, the Venezuelan regime awarded Larreal with a house and car; after leaving the country, Larreal revealed to Spanish media that such houses were being invaded by squatters due to the crisis in Venezuela, and the cars were cheap models that she could cycle faster than.

Career

1990s

Larreal's first championship was the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games, where she was the only female track cyclist from Venezuela to compete and won the silver medal in the sprint. Still a teenager, she next competed at the VIII National Youth Games held in Maracaibo in 1991, winning two gold medals, for sprint and pursuit. Larreal then achieved her first international gold medal at the 1992 Pan American Track Championships in Quito, doing so by setting a new championship record of 13.619 seconds in the individual sprint. The placement qualified her to compete at the 1992 Summer Olympics, where she went out in the second round repechage. She went on to compete at five different Olympic Games, representing Venezuela at the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2012 Summer Olympics and earning four Olympic diplomas. Among Venezuelan athletes, others who have competed at five Olympics are Fabiola Ramos (1996 through 2012) and Rubén Limardo (2008 through 2024).

After her debut Olympics in Barcelona, Larreal began training and racing in Spain with a road racing team (as non-Spanish cyclists could not compete on the track) sponsored by Café Fortaleza; she won three golds, six silvers, and eight bronzes there. In 1993, she won two silver medals at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games, in the sprint and points race. She returned to national competition in 1996, representing Lara and taking gold in the sprint trials. Larreal also had success in the 1996 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, with podium finishes in the stages at Cali and Havana

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