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Great Lives from History: Latinos

Félix Sánchez

by Brooke Posley

American Olympic hurdler

Revered for his ability to finish races in record times, Sánchez has represented the Dominican Republic impressively, particularly as a four-hundred-meter hurdler. He has been a trailblazer, nabbing the Dominican Republic’s first gold medals in various hurdles events and popularizing track and field in that country.

Areas of achievement: Sports

Early Life

Félix Sánchez (FAY-lihx SAHN-chehz) was born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York, to parents from the Dominican Republic. Sánchez briefly lived with both parents in New York until his mother and father separated and moved to different places.

Félix Sánchez.

324_Sanchez_Felix.jpg

(AP Photo)

Young Sánchez headed off with his mother to San Diego, California. His youth was far from ordinary since he lived hundreds of miles away from his father, who had moved back to the Dominican Republic. Fortunately, Sánchez maintained some ties to his Dominican culture through his mother and through other Dominican relatives who lived in California.

While growing up in San Diego, Sánchez engaged in sports. Early on, he played baseball, an immensely popular sport among Dominicans. He pursued athletics while attending San Diego’s University City High School. Sánchez’s mind was first set on other high school sports, such as baseball, football, and wrestling, yet his attention soon turned to track and field after he injured his wrist during a wrestling exercise. With encouragement from the school’s track coach, Sánchez decided to go for a sport he could still pursue despite having an injured wrist. During team tryouts, other runners, including a female runner, outran Sánchez. However, this moment of defeat did not discourage him, and he made efforts to improve his performance in the sport.

Eventually, he went on to pursue track and field at San Diego Mesa College and later at the University of Southern California, where he earned a degree in psychology. Sánchez continued to show potential, particularly as a 400-meter hurdles athlete, and he earned numerous athletic honors, such as junior college championship titles and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title.

Life’s Work

Sánchez held his Dominican heritage dear to his heart and was motivated to compete in track and field on the Dominican Republic’s behalf. Although technically he could compete for either the United States or the Dominican Republic, since he was a citizen of both countries, Sánchez wished to be a Dominican athlete. Prior to 1999, Sánchez faced obstacles in becoming a Dominican track-and-field athlete since this sport was not as well established as baseball was in this country. However, a series of events in 1999 enabled Sánchez to compete in track and field for the Dominican Republic.

Sánchez made Dominicans proud to call him their track-and-field athlete. By 2004, he had achieved milestones for the Dominican Republic. Among his most impressive accomplishments are his gold medals earned in various 400-meter hurdles events. In 2001, he beat his competitors in 47.49 seconds and won the Dominican Republic’s first world championships’s gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles event. He won a second one in 2003, finishing his race in 47.25 seconds. In a quick 48.19 seconds, he nabbed the Dominican Republic’s first Pan American Games gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles 2003 event. Then in just 47.63 seconds, he won the 400-meter hurdles event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, attaining the Dominican Republic’s very first Olympic gold medal.

Sánchez’s track-and-field journey was filled with glorious moments as well as setbacks and defeats, yet he endured. After his unwelcome loss at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he won an astonishing forty-three races, one after another, between 2001 and 2004. His accomplishments during this time include victories at the 2001 Super Grand Prix event in Switzerland and the 2002 IAAF Golden League competition. In 2003, Sánchez was honored as Track and Field Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News magazine.

Following 2004, injuries hurt his ability to compete. Still, he bounced back in 2007, winning a silver medal during the world championships 400-meter hurdles event. After his defeat in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he continued to diligently train, compete, and enjoy successes, such as his victory in the 2010 University of California, San Diego Triton Invitational. His dedication to track and field is further evident in his role as hurdles coach at California’s Harvard-Westlake School, where he has trained students in the sport.

Significance

By choosing to compete in track and field for the Dominican Republic, Sánchez demonstrated initiative and commitment to his Dominican culture. The Dominican Republic had been a country noted for baseball, but Sánchez put the spotlight on track and field and paved the way for other Dominican athletes to follow in his fleet footsteps. By tapping into opportunities few have pursued and by venturing down paths few have trod, Sánchez showed incredible ambition and leadership qualities, which other Latinos can emulate. Sánchez did not abandon his Dominican roots, despite being pressured to be a track-and-field athlete for the United States, and he has inspired others to stay connected to their heritage.

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

Posley, Brooke. "Félix Sánchez." Great Lives from History: Latinos, edited by Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera, Salem Press, 2012. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLL_10013240055301001.

APA 7th

Posley, B. (2012). Félix Sánchez. In C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.

CMOS 17th

Posley, Brooke. "Félix Sánchez." Edited by Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.

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