Reategui looks to compete in 2004 Olympics for Peru
Utah State University students may be able to see a fellow Aggie compete in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Sandra Reategui, a member of the track and field team, hopes to represent her home country of Peru in the 200-meter dash during the Summer Games.
“I’m going to try,” Reategui said. “But this is a dream, so you never know what’s going to happen. Life is full of surprises.”
The senior, who said she started running at the age of 12 to “spend more time with my friends,” has been a top-competitor for the Aggies since she came to USU in 1999.
She was the top-placer from her country in three events at the Junior Pan American Championships, placing in the top 15 in the 100, the 200 and the 400 in 1999.
Reategui said she first started really thinking about competing in the Olympics in 1998 when she broke the junior national record in both the 200 and the 400, although she’s dreamed about it since she was young.
“My coach back home told me he wanted me to go to the Olympics,” she said. “I thought ‘oh, that’s funny,’ but after breaking records and going to international competitions, I thought I could do it.”
At Utah State Reategui currently holds three all-time top-10 marks for USU, all of which she has set this season. At the Wilson Motor Invitational Jan. 26, the Aggies’ home meet this year, she won the 60, tying the school record for the third best all-time mark (7.74 seconds).
She also holds the fifth-best time in school history for the indoor 200 (24.50), which she set Feb. 2 at the Idaho State Invitational.
In the outdoor season thus far, Reategui has moved up to eighth on the all-time 200 list with her 24.24-finish Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational in Ogden.
At the University of California Davis Invitational on April 6, Reategui won the 200 and took second in the 400.
“She’s a wonderful person as far as caring about other athletes, but she’s very serious about training,” Head Coach Gregg Gensel said. “She has the best of both worlds, and she’s an inspiration to her teammates, too.”
Reategui came to Utah State because she was offered a scholarship and a chance to learn English, she said.
She is currently taking 18 credits and had 22 last semester. In addition, she works 10 to 15 hours a week at the Center for Persons with Disabilities and trains more than 10 hours a week. She is also a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and is involved with the Student Athlete Mentors program.
“My schedule is crazy, but it’s just part of getting my schooling done on time,” she said. “It’s out of control and I wouldn’t do it again. If I think about all the things I have to do, I’d get afraid or stressed out. So I don’t think about it, I just do it.”
Reategui said her goals for this season are to win the 200 in the Big West Conference and qualify to compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships May 29 to June 30 in Baton Rouge, La.
“I want to win conference; that would be so cool,” she said. “And it would be great to go to nationals.”
Her highest placing at conference in past years was a fourth-place finish in 2000. Gensel said winning is a possibility for her.
“She has that capability,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me. But I don’t want to put pressure on her, so I think we’ll just wait and see.”
When Reategui first started running, she competed in the 800 and the 1,500. She said she doesn’t remember when she switched to sprints, but is glad she made the change. The 200 is her favorite event and the one she hopes will take her to the Olympics, she said.
Reategui has been at Utah State for two and one-half years, and will finish with her degree this summer. She said she is glad she came to Utah State because it helped her learn to work hard and grow up.
After going home to Peru, Reategui said she hopes to train for the Olympics either at a club in Spain or another European country, depending on if she can get accepted into one. If she can’t get into a European club, she said she’ll stay home and work hard herself.
“I just plan on working hard,” she said. “That’s all there is to it. There’s no secret, just work hard.”