Lucia Hernandorena

Happy monumental birthday to Uruguay’s Lucía Hernandorena, who took two national silver medals in a single weekend in May.

At the Uruguayan U20 Championships in Montevideo on 23 and 24 May, Lucía took silver over 800m and silver over 1500m, and set a personal best of 2:21.87 doing it. She was one of eight medals brought home by Maldonado athletes from that championship. In December 2024 she had already worn the Uruguayan vest at the South American U18 Championships in San Luis, Argentina, finishing ninth in the 800m at sixteen years old, and in April 2025 she took second in the 400m at the Grand Prix Estrella Puente in Montevideo, a World Athletics Continental Tour meeting.

The 800m in Uruguay is a serious place to grow up. It is the event of Déborah Rodríguez, the South American champion, and it means every young Uruguayan 800m runner has a very clear picture of what the top of her own country looks like. Lucía is now stepping into the senior ranks with a South American vest already behind her.

She races for the Escuela de Atletismo CEDEMCAR in San Carlos, in the department of Maldonado, coached by Elizabeth Silveira, who travelled with her to San Luis and whom the club has publicly called a fundamental pillar of what they do. That is what small-club athletics looks like: one coach, one town, and a teenager who ends up in an international vest because somebody kept showing up.

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Lucía! Que tengas un divino día, y muchas vueltas más a la pista. ¡Vamo’ arriba! 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇺🇾