Eduardo Terrance Garcia (born November 20, 1992) is an American and Virgin Islander runner.

Biography

Garcia was born in Jacksonville, Florida, with dual eligibility to represent the US and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

. He attended Mandarin High School, then studied at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

ing in Sports Management and graduating in 2016. During his time at Florida University, Garcia represented the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

in competition. He competed in both track running and

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

. In 2015, he was the 10,000m SEC Outdoor Champion. After graduating from Florida University, Garcia began competing for the Virgin Islands due to his dual citizenship, relocating to

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

to start running for the Greenville Track Club elite program. By 2018 he had transitioned to

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

, running half-marathons and

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

s with the goal of competing in the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

; he broke the Virgin Islands national half-marathon record with a time of 1:05.37 while running the Richmond Half-Marathon in November of that year. In January 2019, Garcia ran the

Houston Marathon The Houston Marathon is an annual marathon usually held every January in Houston, Texas, United States, since 1972. With thousands of runners and spectators, it is the largest single day sporting event in the city. It is run concurrently wit ...

with a time of 2:18:50, beating the Olympics qualifying time of 2:19:00. This was the fastest marathon ever ran by a Virgin Islander. Garcia holds multiple Virgin Islands national records, including a time of 29:18.25 in the 10,000m event set at the Portland Track Festival in May 2021. Garcia competed in the marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics, but did not finish the race.

References

External links

* *
Eduardo Terrance Garcia
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

(archived
alternate link
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Eduardo 1992 births Living people United States Virgin Islands male marathon runners Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Virgin Islands Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics American people of Virgin Islands descent Track and field athletes from Jacksonville, Florida 21st-century American sportsmen