Former Liberty Track & Field competitor prepared for second Olympics appearance

Former Liberty University All-American Alejandro Perlaza Zapata will represent Colombia at the Summer Olympics for the second time, beginning with his heat in the men’s 400 dash Saturday evening at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.

Perlaza Zapata, who previously ran on Colombia’s men’s 4 x 400 relay squad at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will once again compete in the 4 x 400 relay next week, following his first Olympics appearance in the open 400. Colombia qualified for the Olympics with its impressive fourth-place finish in the 2019 World Championships 4 x 400 relay final and Perlaza Zapata led off for that squad, which clocked a national-record time of 2:59.50.

Perlaza Zapata was also a semifinalist in the 400 at the World Championships, placing 15th overall. He was highly successful during his two seasons at Liberty (2018 and 2019) and earned a pair of All-America honors, placing sixth in the 400 at the 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships and fifth in the 400 at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Perlaza Zapata owns five school records, headlined by his 44.86 clocking in the 400 from the 2018 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships. That performance, which set a Colombia national record at the time, still ranks as the best of the 26-year-old’s career.