Racing for Gold: Lorena Martin, '18, Returns from Paris and Sets Sights on L.A.
By Lia Kizilbash Gillet
Lorena Martin, '18, represents Spain at the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Photo: Fotorunners)
Lorena Martin, ’18, a former NIU athlete who is now a Track and Field Olympic athlete, represented Spain at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and the 2024 European World Championship. She also signed a professional contract with New Balance.
A few months after the Olympics she was able to reflect on the experience.
“I know I wasn't in the best place physically to give my all during my competition, but I was still grateful to get there,” she said. “The best part was sharing this experience with athletes the same age as me because I saw them develop through the years to get there. The closing ceremony was very emotional; it was the end of a ride. It was so hard to get there and very motivational for me to keep going to fight for Los Angeles 2028.”
Martin credits her grandparents and parents for inspiring and giving her the spirit of a competitive athlete.
“I come from a farmer’s family and seeing them work so hard gave me strong values such as patience, commitment and resilience,” she said.
Martin began running at only 13 years old in her small village, 30 miles away from Salamanca, Spain. She quickly started competing in regional and national championships for cross country and track and field. She was a multiple-time national champion in the under-18 and under-20 age categories for the 800 and 1500-meter outdoor track events.
In 2014, Martin boarded a plane for the first time and traveled from her hometown of Peñaranda de Bracamonte, Spain to attend NIU on a scholarship. At NIU, she learned to be a leader, a strong community member and a hard worker. In 2018, she earned a bachelor's degree in marketing with a minor in sales.
“The College of Business led me to my decision to study at NIU, and getting a full-ride athletic scholarship gave me that opportunity,” she said. “I loved going to class. I have really good memories of all my professors. Especially Chuck Howlett, Rob Peterson, Daniel Morgan, and Jenny Redisi; they helped me a lot with the language and were a key part of my experience. Monique Bernoudy was a rock to me in my very first year at NIU. She helped me with the language and the classes and acted as a mother to me. My teammates, coach Adrian Myers, Melissa Dawson from Student-Athlete Academic Support Services, and my athletic trainers were all helpful."
It’s at NIU where Martin said she really became an adult and matured through living with her best friends and getting to know people from all over the world—all while traveling to track and field meets across the country.
“My experience training with the NIU Track and Field team was amazing, we had a great group of people under Coach Adrian Myers,” Martin said. “I was part of the varsity team until I graduated in 2018 and broke some school records. We represented NIU and achieved the highest finish in school history at the 2017 MAC and Regional Championships.”
Today, Martin remains in contact with teammates, coaches, professors and classmates.
“I really cherished my beginning in the sport,” she said. "I shared my 2024 World Indoor Championship [800 meters short track] with NIU track and field head coach Connie Teaberry.”
Martin's parents, father, Elias, and mother, Isabel, traveled outside of Spain for the first time to attend her NIU graduation. After, Martin returned to Spain to pursue a professional athletic career.
Lorena Martin, '18, stands at the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Photo: Fotorunners)“When I got back to Spain in 2018, I was the under-age 23 national champion, and in 2022, I was selected to represent Spain for the first time in the World Athletics Indoor Championship, where I finished 8th place,” she said.
A month after returning from achilles surgery in 2023, Martin qualified for the World Athletics Outdoor Championship with an 800-meter three-second personal best. In moments like these, Martin says she had to believe in herself to keep trying.
“You have to commit to whatever it takes to get there while enjoying the ride,” she said. “I know that I invested my all into a dream, and it shows me that I am worthy.”