{"id":9266,"date":"2013-07-22T14:24:00","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T19:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=9266"},"modified":"2021-03-16T17:39:56","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T22:39:56","slug":"king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/","title":{"rendered":"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever."},"content":{"rendered":"

So, Nairo Quintana<\/a> gave Colombia a (slightly tardy, mind you) birthday present by becoming King of the Mountains, the best rider under 25, and second over-all in the ridiculously gruelling Tour de France (being beaten out by a Brit, my associate Paul Fowler hastens to point out) – it\u00b4s got to be the craziest, most intense sporting event in the world (apart from a night out in Bogota, of course), doesn\u00b4t it?<\/p>\n

All of these titles are massive firsts for Colombia, a country slightly mad about cycling <\/a>in general. Colombians can be slightly excitable, and Nairo has already been dubbed as a Great Colombian<\/a> by some, but, we\u00b4d like to know, where exactly on the list of Greatest Colombian achievements does his success belong?<\/p>\n

Below, we\u00b4ve mapped out a few candidates, and we\u00b4d like to know what you think about this.<\/p>\n

What exactly are<\/strong> the greatest Colombian achievements?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sports.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"She<\/a>
She could lift very heavy things – even heavier than those flowers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

King of the mountains is a pretty admirable achievement. Is it the greatest Colombian sporting achievement, though? I\u00b4d argue, no.<\/p>\n

For me, I\u00b4d give it to world-beating weightlifter, Maria Urrutia. Not only did her sporting career feature 8 medals at World Weightlifting championships, including two gold, but she also won Colombia\u00b4s first ever Olympic gold at the 2000 Olympics. And, not satisfied with that, she turned to a successful political career, having been elected twice in the Chamber of Representatives. A little more successful than Australian Rugby League\u00b4s Big Mal Meninga\u00b4s political career<\/a> of 24 seconds, really.<\/p>\n

Also in the sporting realm, we have the ridiculously rich and handsome Radamel Falcao, who also happens to be a goal-scoring phenomenon, and Carlos \u00a8El Pibe\u00a8 Valderrama, who currently holds the title for Best Hair in Sporting History.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Politics.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Plaza<\/a>
One of the many Plazas named after Bolivar, this one in Bogota.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well, even though he was born in Caracas, Colombians claim Simon Bolivar as their own; and, as Venezuela was kinda technically part of Colombia at the time, I guess their claim\u00b4s not too outrageous. Going by the number of statues alone, Bolivar seems to have made the greatest achievements. Being heralded for kicking out the Spaniards from half of South America isn\u00b4t that shabby a claim to fame either.<\/p>\n

Also in politics, there\u00b4s the pre-independence kingpin, Antonio Nari\u00f1o, who was vital in stirring the flames of rebellion, and also had some of the finest sideburns you\u00b4re likely to see. There\u00b4s also former mathematician and \u00a0Medellin mayor, Sergio Fajardo, integral in turning Medellin around, helping sow the seeds for Colombia\u00b4s second largest city to be named the Most Innovative City of the Year<\/a>. There\u00b4s also the controversial former President, Alvaro Uribe, who was recently named The Greatest Colombian of All Time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Arts.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Gabriel<\/a>
Little does he know, but there\u00b4s something on Gabo\u00b4s head here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well, it would be hard to go past Gabo here. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is Colombia\u00b4s Godfather of Imagination. Pretty much inventing a genre of prose, and one of the leading lights of modern literature, this coste\u00f1o is a world treasure. Amazing eyebrows too.<\/p>\n

Also, Fernando Botero<\/a>, artist and incredibly generous benefactor, has to be in the running, as do musicians Joe Arroyo<\/a> and Toto Momposina<\/a>. Did I forget Shakira? Did I?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u00b4ve missed a few Colombian High achievers. For example, there\u00b4s also renowned doctor, Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, who discovered a vaccine for malaria and saved millions of lives, comedian and politician, Jaime Garcon, and, of course, the beloved seamstress and spy, La Pola. Who would you say is the greatest?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Featured picture of Nairo Quintana from El Espectador<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, Nairo Quintana gave Colombia a (slightly tardy, mind you) birthday present by becoming King of the Mountains, the best rider under 25, and second over-all in the ridiculously gruelling Tour de France (being beaten out by a Brit, my associate Paul Fowler hastens to point out) – it\u00b4s got to be the craziest, most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":9268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[115,1255,1665,4,66,392,76,1083],"tags":[2885,2920,345],"yoast_head":"\nKing of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever. - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So, Nairo Quintana gave Colombia a (slightly tardy, mind you) birthday present by becoming King of the Mountains, the best rider under 25, and second over-all in the ridiculously gruelling Tour de France (being beaten out by a Brit, my associate Paul Fowler hastens to point out) – it\u00b4s got to be the craziest, most […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-22T19:24:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-03-16T22:39:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/nairo-quintana.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"946\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Giles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\",\"description\":\"Colombia Travel Blog: An international perspective on travelling in Colombia by world travellers.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/nairo-quintana.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/nairo-quintana.jpg\",\"width\":946,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/\",\"name\":\"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever. - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-22T19:24:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-16T22:39:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76\",\"name\":\"Paul Giles\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Giles\"},\"description\":\"Hi my name is Paul Giles and I'm one of See Colombia's Travel Writers. I must say that it\u00b4s a bit of a happy accident that I\u2019ve found myself here at all. After flitting back and forth between Australia and Asia for a few years, I felt the South American continent calling me. I thought I\u00b4d end up in Argentina or somewhere, but ever since I\u00b4ve made it to Colombia, good things just seem to manifest themselves before my eyes. Whether it is the funky, slightly grungy energy of the capital, Bogota; the steamy sass of Cartegena; the Carribean beauty of Tayrona; or the jaw-dropping gorgeousness of the coffee region; I\u2019ve found it difficult not to fall in love with the country and its people. As for myself, I\u00b4m passionate about a number of things; travel (duh), poetry, food, good drinks, and ridiculous clothing. And, from what I\u00b4ve seen so far, I\u00b4m confident Colombia is a peculiarly amenable environment to sustain and develop such passions.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.mrgiles.blogspot.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/author\/paul-giles\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever. - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever.","og_description":"So, Nairo Quintana gave Colombia a (slightly tardy, mind you) birthday present by becoming King of the Mountains, the best rider under 25, and second over-all in the ridiculously gruelling Tour de France (being beaten out by a Brit, my associate Paul Fowler hastens to point out) – it\u00b4s got to be the craziest, most […]","og_url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/","og_site_name":"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","article_published_time":"2013-07-22T19:24:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-03-16T22:39:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":946,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/nairo-quintana.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Giles","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/","name":"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","description":"Colombia Travel Blog: An international perspective on travelling in Colombia by world travellers.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/nairo-quintana.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/nairo-quintana.jpg","width":946,"height":630},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/","name":"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever. - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2013-07-22T19:24:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-16T22:39:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/07\/king-of-the-mountains-nairo-quintana-another-colombian-high-achiever\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"King of the Mountains, Nairo Quintana: Another Colombian High Achiever."}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76","name":"Paul Giles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Paul Giles"},"description":"Hi my name is Paul Giles and I'm one of See Colombia's Travel Writers. I must say that it\u00b4s a bit of a happy accident that I\u2019ve found myself here at all. After flitting back and forth between Australia and Asia for a few years, I felt the South American continent calling me. I thought I\u00b4d end up in Argentina or somewhere, but ever since I\u00b4ve made it to Colombia, good things just seem to manifest themselves before my eyes. Whether it is the funky, slightly grungy energy of the capital, Bogota; the steamy sass of Cartegena; the Carribean beauty of Tayrona; or the jaw-dropping gorgeousness of the coffee region; I\u2019ve found it difficult not to fall in love with the country and its people. As for myself, I\u00b4m passionate about a number of things; travel (duh), poetry, food, good drinks, and ridiculous clothing. And, from what I\u00b4ve seen so far, I\u00b4m confident Colombia is a peculiarly amenable environment to sustain and develop such passions.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.mrgiles.blogspot.com"],"url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/author\/paul-giles\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9266"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9266"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26411,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9266\/revisions\/26411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}