FC Barcelona mourns death of athlete Álex Quiñonez

FC Barcelona is in mourning following the tragic death of Álex Quiñonez, who was shot dead on Friday in his home city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The 32-year-old sprinter made history for Barça and his country by winning bronze in the 200m at the Doha World Athletics Championship in 2019, after becoming the first Ecuadorian finalist in the event at the London Olympics in 2012.

According to Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio, Quiñonez was killed in Colinas de Florida, in the northeast of Guayaquil, together with the person who was with him. Witnesses say that they were approached by a white van and the attackers were disguised as policemen, who made several ‘arrests’ before fleeing to an unknown destination. The events have occurred in the midst of state of emergency throughout the country declared by President Guillermo Laso on Monday in response to the serious outbreaks of delinquency across the South American nation.

Last win in blaugrana

Álex Quiñonez had been an FC Barcelona athlete for three years since 2018. Vicente Egido, technical director of the Barça athletics section, said “the whole athletics community is shocked by this news. Álex was an excellent person and very much a Barça man, and who was highly committed to competing, and enjoying competing, for Barça.”

Quiñonez last event for the club was in the 200m in the Club League Division of Honour in Alicante last June, an event that he won.

PHOTO: Real Federación Española de Atletismo