José Peña (steeplechaser)

José Peña

Personal information
Full name	José Gregorio Peña Trejo
Born	(1987-01-12) January 12, 1987 San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	56 kg (123 lb)
Sport
Country	Venezuela
Sport	Athletics
Medal record Men's athletics Competitor for  Venezuela Pan American Games Gold 2011 Guadalajara 3000 m st. Bolivarian Games Bronze 2009 Sucre 3000 m steeplechase South American Championships Gold 2013 Cartagena 3000 m st. Silver 2009 Lima 3000 m st. Bronze 2007 São Paolo 3000 m st. CAC Championships Silver 2009 Havana 3000 m st. South American Youth Championships Gold 2004 Guayaquil 2000 m steeplechase
Updated on 20 June 2013.

José Gregorio Peña Trejo (born 12 January 1987) is a Venezuelan track and field athlete who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. His personal best for the event is 8:20.87 minutes

Biography

Born in San Cristóbal, Táchira, he first established himself on the continental youth scene. His first international outing came at the 2002 South American Youth Championships in Athletics, where he came fourth in the boy's 2000 metres steeplechase race.^[1] At the 2004 edition of the competition, he won the steeplechase gold medal and also came fourth in the 1500 metres and fifth in the 3000 metres flat events.^[2] Moving up to the junior under-20 ranks, he ran at the 2005 South American Junior Championships in Athletics. There he won the 3000 m steeplechase silver medal behind Peru's Mario Bazán and he also placed eighth in the 1500 m final.^[3] He represented Venezuelan on the global stage at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics, but did not progress beyond the steeplechase heats. In November 2006, he was the runner-up at the 2006 South American Games (again to Bazán) and ran a national junior record time of 8:50.88 minutes.^[4]

In Peña's first season as a senior athlete, he won the bronze medal in the steeplechase at the 2007 South American Championships in Athletics.^[5] He was also the runner-up at the 2007 ALBA Games event. He focused on longer distances in 2008, coming seventh in the South American Cross Country Championships and winning the national title over 5000 metres. At the 2008 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics he came fifth in his specialist steeplechase event.^[6]

His focus returned to steeplechasing in the 2009 season. He came second at the 2009 ALBA Games, fifth at the World Military Track and Field Championships, then ran a personal best of 8:36.17 minutes at the 2009 South American Championships in Athletics in Lima – finishing just one second behind the host nation's Mario Bazán who broke the championship record.^[7] Two weeks later, he competed at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics and won the silver medal.^[8] He won the 2010 Venezuelan steeplechase title, but missed the rest of the track season that year.^[6]

At the 2011 South American Championships in Athletics, Peña missed out on a steeplechase medal for the first time, coming in fifth place. A month later, he ran a personal best of 8:34.90 minutes at the 2011 Military World Games and was eighth in the event final. At the end of July he won the title at the 2011 ALBA Games.^[6] The 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara saw him achieve his best finish to date, taking the Pan American gold medal ahead of Brazil's Hudson de Souza with a tactical sprint finish.^[9] This achievement followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Néstor Nieves, who won the same event in 2003.

Personal bests

• 1500 m: 3:44.06 min – Eagle Rock, 4 May 2013
• 3000 m: 8:15.27 min – Maracaibo, 23 May 2008
• 5000 m: 13:47.25 min – Stanford, 29 March 2013
• 3000 m steeplechase: 8:22.56 min NR – Stanford, 28 April 2013

Achievements

Representing  Venezuela
2002	South American Youth Championships	Asunción	4th	2000 m steeplechase	6:27.07 min
2004	South American Youth Championships	Guayaquil	4th	1500 m	3:59.8 min
			5th	3000 m	8:45.8 min
			1st	2000 m steeplechase	5:52.2 min
2005	South American Junior Championships	Rosario	2nd	3000 m steeplechase	9:13.74 min
2006	World Junior Championships	Beijing	8th (h)	3000 m steeplechase	8:52.36 min
	South American Under-23 Championships	Buenos Aires	2nd	3000 m steeplechase	8:50.88 min NJR
	South American Games
2007	ALBA Games	Caracas	2nd	3000 m steeplechase	8:51.42 min
	South American Championships	São Paulo	3rd	3000 m steeplechase	8:54.43 min
2008	South American Cross Country Championships	Asunción	7th	Long course (12km)	38:47 min
	Ibero-American Championships	Iquique	5th	3000 m steeplechase	8:54.80 min
2009	ALBA Games	La Habana	2nd	3000 m steeplechase	8:44.47 min
	World Military Track & Field Championships	Sofia	5th	3000m steeplechase	8:48.00 min
	South American Championships	Lima	2nd	3000 m steeplechase	8:36.17 min PB A
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	La Habana	2nd	3000 m steeplechase	8:51.03 min
	Bolivarian Games	Sucre	3rd	3000 m steeplechase	10.04.90 min A
2011	South American Championships	Buenos Aires	5th	3000 m steeplechase	8:44.18 min
	Military World Games	Rio de Janeiro	8th	3000m steeplechase	8:47.18 min
	ALBA Games	Barquisimeto	1st	3000 m steeplechase	8:45.25 min
	Pan American Games	Guadalajara	1st	3000 m steeplechase	8:48.19 min A
2012	Ibero-American Championships	Barquisimeto	1st	3000 m steeplechase	8:37.67 min
	Olympic Games	London	8th (h)	3000 m steeplechase	8:24.06 min NR

References

External links

• José Peña profile at IAAF
• Sports reference biography
• Tilastopaja biography