The Most Famous
ATHLETES from Panama
This page contains a list of the greatest Panamanian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 3 of which were born in Panama. This makes Panama the birth place of the 87th most number of Athletes behind Guadeloupe, and Vietnam.
Top 6
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Panamanian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Panamanian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Lloyd La Beach (1922 - 1999)
With an HPI of 46.35, Lloyd La Beach is the most famous Panamanian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.
Lloyd Barrington LaBeach (28 June 1922 – 19 February 1999) was a Panamanian sprinter, who won two bronze medals during the 1948 Summer Olympics, the first Olympic medals for Panama and for Central America. He also competed in the long jump. In the 100 meters, he finished behind American athletes Harrison Dillard and Barney Ewell for third place, ahead of favorite Mel Patton, also from the United States. Born in Panama City, his parents were Jamaican immigrants. While Lloyd was still in school the family relocated to Jamaica, where LaBeach first showed his talent in athletics. He later entered the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was coached during his preparations for the Olympic Games. In 1948, he set the world record in the 200 meters on a cinder track in Compton, California. After the race, he was described in Time as "Panama's one-man Olympic hope". Just a few weeks before LaBeach had been involved in a world record setting 100-yard dash, in which he barely lost at the finish line tape to Patton. These 1948 performances made him one of the expected medal contenders against Patton and Ewell in the Olympics. His brother Byron LaBeach, also a sprinter, competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics representing Jamaica. LaBeach retired from athletics in 1957, and died in New York City, on 19 February 1999, at the age of 76.
2. Irving Saladino (b. 1983)
With an HPI of 39.23, Irving Saladino is the 2nd most famous Panamanian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.
Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda (born January 23, 1983) is a Panamanian former long jumper. He was Olympic champion, having won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and remains Panama's first and only Olympic gold medalist. He was world champion in the long jump in 2007. He represented his country at three consecutive Olympics, from 2004 to 2012, and competed at four World Championships in Athletics from 2005 to 2011. Amongst his honours are a silver medal from the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and gold medals at the Pan American Games, Central American and Caribbean Games, Central American Games, South American Games, the IAAF World Cup and the Ibero-American Championships in Athletics. He holds a long jump best of 8.73 m (28 ft 7+1⁄2 in), set in 2008. He ranks in the all-time top ten for the event. He had the longest jumps in the world in the 2006 and 2008 seasons.
3. Alonso Edward (b. 1989)
With an HPI of 29.88, Alonso Edward is the 3rd most famous Panamanian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Alonso Reno Edward Henry (born 8 December 1989), commonly known as Alonso Edward,[nb] is a Panamanian sprinter who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. He set a South American junior record in the 100 m in 2007. Edward competed in his first World Junior Championships in 2008, finishing in sixth place. He made significant improvements in the 2009 season, setting national records in the 100 m and 200 m in May and winning both events at the 2009 South American Championships in Athletics. Prior to the 2009 World Championships, he again beat the 200 m national record, becoming the fourth fastest runner of the season. At his first ever World Championships, he set a South American record to win the silver medal in the 200 metres final, becoming the youngest ever medallist in that event.
4. Jorge Castelblanco (b. )
With an HPI of 0.00, Jorge Castelblanco is the 4th most famous Panamanian Athlete. His biography has been translated into different languages.
Jorge Castelblanco (born 23 September 1987) is a long-distance runner from Panama. At the 2016 Olympics he became the first Panamanian athlete to run the Olympic marathon. He also competed in the men's marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. Castelblanco graduated from the Technological University of Panama and works as a police officer. He is married and has a son, Ethan.
5. Atheyna Bylon (b. )
With an HPI of 0.00, Atheyna Bylon is the 5th most famous Panamanian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into different languages.
Atheyna Bylon (born April 6, 1989) is a Panamanian boxer. She is a police officer. She started boxing when she was 19, and competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's middleweight event, in which she was eliminated in a round of 16 bout against Brazil's Andreia Bandeira. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris she made history when she defeated Elżbieta Wójcik of Poland to advance to the semi-finals, assuring Panama of its 4th Olympic medal in history, the first for a female athlete and the first medal outside of athletics. She would go on to advance to the gold medal match, where she lost to Li Qian of China, earning the silver medal.
6. Ravi Kumar (b. )
With an HPI of 0.00, Ravi Kumar is the 6th most famous Panamanian Athlete. Their biography has been translated into different languages.
Ravi Kumar or Ravikumar is Hindu given name, which means "Son of the Sun", combining the Sanskrit words "Ravi" (Sun) and "Kumar" (Son). The name may refer to:
People
Pantheon has 6 people classified as Panamanian athletes born between 1922 and 1989. Of these 6, 5 (83.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Panamanian athletes include Irving Saladino, Alonso Edward, and Jorge Castelblanco. The most famous deceased Panamanian athletes include Lloyd La Beach. As of April 2024, 3 new Panamanian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Jorge Castelblanco, Atheyna Bylon, and Ravi Kumar.
Living Panamanian Athletes
Go to all Rankings
Irving Saladino
1983 - Present
HPI: 39.23
Alonso Edward
1989 - Present
HPI: 29.88
Jorge Castelblanco
HPI: 0.00
Atheyna Bylon
HPI: 0.00
Ravi Kumar
HPI: 0.00
