Luis Rivera
Rivera at the 2013 World Championships
Personal information
Born (1987-06-21) June 21, 1987
Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
Sport
Country Mexico
SportAthletics
EventLong jump
Medal record
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2013 MoscowLong jump
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place2013 KazanLong jump

Luis Alberto Rivera Morales (born 21 June 1987) is a Mexican long jumper. He won a bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2013 Summer Universiade. He also competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. His personal best is 8.46 metres, achieved in July 2013.[2]

His brother, Edgar Rivera, competes in the high jump.

Early life

A native of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Rivera was oldest of four children born to Luis Rivera Pompa and Alejandra Morales.[3] His father had excelled in athletics while his maternal grandfather, León Morales Amézquita, was a marathon runner and played professional football for Unión de Curtidores.[3]

Rivera played football before he began practicing the long jump at the age of 17.[3][4]

He attended Central Arizona College, where he learned English. He won the junior college national championship in both the triple jump and the long jump.[5] After finishing his General Studies degree, he transferred to the University of Arizona, where he was named all-American in long jump. He also won the indoor and outdoor conference titles in both the long jump and triple jump.[5]

Career

In 2013, Rivera competed at the Summer Universiade held in Kazan, Russia, where he jumped 8.46 meters to take the gold medal in a head-to-head battle with Russian national favorite Aleksandr Menkov, who finished 4 cm behind. Rivera's winning jump became the Mexican national record, and the University Games record.

Just over a month later, at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia, Menkov was again in the competition. This time Menkov took the gold with the Russian National record of 8.56 m while Rivera took the bronze medal with a jump of 8.27 m.

Rivera was given the National Sports Award in 2013 for his performances.[6]

Personal life

Rivera earned his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Arizona before earning his master's degree in electrical engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM).[3] He subsequently earnned his PhD in industrial engineering from ITESM.[6]

His brother, Edgar Rivera, competes in the high jump. Two other brothers, Adrián and Jorge, also compete in athletics.[7] A documentary about the Rivera quartet, called El gran salto, was released in 2021.[7]

In May 2021, Rivera announced his candidacy for the municipal president of Agua Prieta, challenging incumbent Jesús Alfonso Montaño Durazo, cousin of Governor Alfonso Durazo.[6]

Teaching Careerer

After earning his PhD, Rivera soon began to teach pre-calculus, AP and standard geometry at Douglas High School in Douglas, Arizona, a town closely linked as the sister city of Agua Prieta, Sonora.[8]

Rivera playing chess against a student during Teacher Appreciation Week

"I don't have this class, i'm just here because my boyfriend is" - Girlfriend of a student of Rivera

"O te toca un profe que sabe enseñar o con el que sacas curas, y en la clase del Rivera las curas nunca faltaron." - Former student of Rivera

Competition record

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Mexico
2004 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships Coatzacoalcos, Mexico 3rd Triple jump 14.56 m
2007 NACAC Championships San Salvador, El Salvador 6th Long jump 7.43 m
2010 Ibero-American Championships San Fernando, Spain 8th Long jump 7.48 m
Central American and Caribbean Games Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 7th Long jump 7.43 m
2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 8th Long jump 7.32 m
Universiade Shenzhen, China 28th (q) Long jump 7.23 m
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 32nd (q) Long jump 7.42 m
2013 Universiade Kazan, Russia 1st Long jump 8.46 m
World Championships Moscow, Russia 3rd Long jump 8.27 m
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 7th Long jump 7.93 m
Ibero-American Championships São Paulo, Brazil 1st Long jump 8.24 m
2015 Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 9th Long jump 7.63 m (w)

References

  1. ↑ "Luis Rivera Profile". BBC. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Info System: Schedule / Schedule by Date (Athletics, Friday 12 July 2013) / Official Results - Men's Long Jump Final". Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Sánchez Reyes, Cristina (16 August 2013). "Los números son la vida para Luis Rivera". El Economista (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Trujano, Saúl (20 August 2013). "Luis Rivera, el orgullo de Agua Prieta". Excélsior (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Luis Rivera-Morales Profile". Arizona Wildcats Athletics. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Moreno Valenzuela, Gerardo (21 May 2021). "Luis Rivera busca oxigenar el Gobierno de Agua Prieta". Primera Plana Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  7. 1 2 "El sueño olímpico de los hermanos Rivera llega a la pantalla grande". Imagen Poblana (in Spanish). 3 August 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  8. ↑ "Douglas High School". www.douglasschools.org. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.