Doroteo Guamuch honored with name of National Stadium

By Jáuregui & Asociados

Mateo Flores, born Doroteo Guamuch on February 11 1922, was a Guatemalan long-distance runner who won several international events, but most famously the Boston Marathon in 1952. That win, along with a gold medal in the 1955 Pan American Games, made Flores a sports icon in his country, and the Guatemalan government paid him tribute by renaming Mateo Flores the national stadium of the country, located in Guatemala City.

Now, the Congress decided it was time for another recognition that honored and vindicated the Mayan origins of the runner. The decisión of naming the stadium as Doroteo Guamuch (the correct name of the original Mateo Flores), was celebrated by indigenous organizations as a step towards racial integration in Guatemala, a country where 23 pre-Colombian ethnic groups coexist.

The Doroteo Guamuch National Stadium is a multi-use stadium, the largest in Guatemala, built in 1948 to host the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1950. It has a capacity of 30,000 seats.