Luis Grijalva Put Dreamers And DACA In The Spotlight Through The Olympics, Now He Has Bigger Goals To Continue Inspiring

"There are over 600,000 dreamers in America. When I think about my situation at the Olympics, out of the 600,000 Dreamers, imagine if there was someone else in the same exact situation higher than Olympics or even better than the Olympics – something better than that and they can’t get the opportunity to go to their event or do this or that. That’s why my whole movement when it started it was really big for all the Dreamers in the U.S. It was an inspiration I think to say if I could do it, they can do it. It’s really difficult to be in the situation we are in because there are a lot of obstacles we have to go through. It’s really hard to leave the country in the first place. Imagine if you’re somebody who wants to travel and see the world, you might not ever have the opportunity to do that because if you leave you can’t get back in. I think I kind of started something and got more recognition for what DACA is and what Dreamers are.” Luis Grijalva was an Olympian for Guatemala at the Tokyo Olympics and finished 12th in the 5,000 meter final. His road to get to the Games was not easy. In his final race as an NAU Lumberjack, he qualified for Tokyo when he ran 13:13 for the Olympic standard when he finished second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Shortly after that performance, he had to figure out a way to get to Tokyo because his status as a beneficiary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals prevented him from leaving the United States without being able to return to the United States. He hired a lawyer and through the support of many members of the running community and mounting media pressure, he was able to get permission from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to leave. You’ll hear his backstory going back to moving to the United States as a one-year-old, the opportunities that sports and his education presented him and the lasting legacy that he hopes being able to compete at the Olympics was able to provide inspiration to many of the other Dreamers in America. SUPPORT THE SPONSORS FINAL SURGE: No matter if you are an athlete or a coach, Final Surge helps plan and attain both short, and long-term training success. Their free online training log is compatible with Garmin, Strava, Polar, Stryd, COROS and a slew of other apps and devices. If you are a coach, Final Surge makes planning and analyzing workouts simple and helps streamline communication with your athletes. If you’re an athlete out there hammering miles and tempo runs solo with no guidance or direction, Final Surge is also here to offer up some world-class training programs. Check out their offerings today: FINALSURGE.COM HOW TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST Interested in sponsoring the show? Reach out to Chris at chris@citiusmag.com for advertising, sponsorship and partnership offerings. 💵 Pledge any dollar amount to us on Patreon.com/CITIUSMAG or Hit us on Venmo @CITIUSMAG 📧 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG Newsletter 🎥 Subscribe to the CITIUS MAG YouTube channel