Alejandro Manuel Cárdenas Robles (born September 4, 1974 in Hermosillo, Sonora) is a retired track & field athlete from Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. He is married to high jump

High jump

The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....

er athlete Romary Rifka

Romary Rifka

María Romary Rifka González is a female Mexican high jumper. She is married to track & field athlete, Alejandro Cárdenas. Her personal best jump is 1.97 metres, achieved in April 2004 in Xalapa. This is the current Mexican record.-Achievements:-References:...

.

After forming part of the Mexican 4 X 100 metres relay in the 1992 Summer Olympics

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

, he opted for the decathlon

Decathlon

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...

.

In 1995 he obtained a bronze medal in the Pan American Games

Pan American Games

The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...

 in decathlon and another bronze as the member of the 4 X 100 relay.

During 1996, he specialized in the 400 m dash, in which participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

, and qualified for the semifinals, with a time of 45.33 s.

In 1998 he participated in the Central American and Caribbean Games

Central American and Caribbean Games

The Central American and Caribbean Games are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial , typically in the middle year between Summer Olympics...

, in 400 m dash, in which he obtained a bronze medal.

Cárdenas also participated in 1999 on the IAAF World Indoor Championships, in 400 m dash in which he obtained a bronze medal. That same year also participated in the World Championships in Athletics. Alejandro ran along with Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson (athlete)

Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...

, he reached a third place, and a personal record of 44.31 s.

Little time later he participated in which were its last Pan American Games, reaching a third place in the 400 m dash.

Alejandro participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

, in 400 m dash, running 46.14 s in the first round, and 45.66 in the semifinals, in which did not advance.

Four years later Cárdenas participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

, in the 400 m dash, running 45.46 s in the first round, and 45.64 s in the semifinals, in which did not advance.

In the 2005 the Mexican athlete again participated in the World Championships, in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, being eliminated in the first round with a time of 46.73 s.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
Representing
1995	Pan American Games 1995 Pan American Games The 12th Pan American Games were held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from March 12 to March 26, 1995. After 44 years, this was the Pan American Games first return to the country that hosted the first Games, in 1951.-Overview:...	Mar del Plata Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"... , Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...	3rd	Decathlon
			3rd	4x100 m relay
1998	Central American and Caribbean Games 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games The 18th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Maracaibo, Venezuela from August 8 to August 22, 1998 and included 31 nations and a total of 5,200 competitors.-Medals:-References:...	Maracaibo Maracaibo Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state... , Venezuela Venezuela Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...	3rd	400 m
1999	World Indoor Championships 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 7th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in the Green Dome Maebashi stadium in Maebashi, Japan from March 5 to March 7, 1999. It was the first time the Championships were staged outside Europe or North America. Primo Nebiolo, president of the IAAF, characterized the...	Maebashi Maebashi, Gunma is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1892, by the samurai Makuba Kawai.On December 5, 2004 the town of Ōgo, and the villages of Kasukawa and Miyagi, all from Seta District, were merged into Maebashi.... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	3rd	400 m
	World Championships 1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29....	Seville Seville Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level... , Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	3rd	400 m, 44.31 PB
	Pan American Games 1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23-August 8, 1999 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Approximately 5,000 athletes from 42 nations participated at the games. The 1999...	Winnipeg, Canada	3rd	400 m
2001	Central American and Caribbean Championships 2001 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics The 2001 Central American Championships in Athletics were held in Guatemala City, Guatemala.-Men's events:-Women's events:A = affected by altitude-Medal table:-External links:* - GBR Athletics* - GBR Athletics...	Guatemala City, Guatemala	3rd	400 m

Personal bests

• 200 metres
  200 metres
  A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...
  
   - 20.63 s (1998)
• 400 metres
  400 metres
  The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...
  
   - 44.31 s (1999)
• Decathlon
  Decathlon
  The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...
  
  - 7,614 points (1996)

External links

• sports-reference