Olympic Race Walker Noelia Vargas Excited to Become EcoAthletes Champion, Fight the Long Climate Fight 

Noelia Vargas was inspired by her older sister Andrea to get involved with sports when she was four years old.

Both became elite athletes, Andrea in hurdles and Noelia in race walking.

Both competed for Costa Rica in the Olympics this summer in Tokyo.

And now Noelia has joined Andrea in becoming EcoAthletes Champions, the first siblings to do so.

“I am excited to be a part of the EcoAthletes Champions team,” Noelia shared. “Because I grew up in a mountainous area of Costa Rica, nature was everywhere as soon as you go outside! I want to use my platform as a Champion to do what I can to let my fans know that we must protect these areas from climate change and other environmental challenges. It will be a long fight but, as a race walker, I’m used to this!”

Like her sister, Noelia started out in shorter distance running events, but then their paths diverged.

“I tried hurdles and other sprint events, as well as long jump, high jump and throwing sports,” she recalled. “All of them had one thing in common: I was bad at them! But it clicked for me when I tried long distance running and walking events. When I was 8 or 9 years old, I’d run against 14, 15 year-old girls and beat them. Then at age 14, I switched to race walking and that was that.”

Noelia quickly moved to the race-walking fast lane, progressing from junior world championships to senior world championships to making it to her first Olympics in Tokyo, where the 21 year-old finished in 21st place.

Noelia Vargas during a training walk (Photo credit: GreenmediaCR/Braulio Romero)

“It’s hard to put into words but of course it was an incredible experience to represent my country in the Olympics,” said Noelia. “Of course, the race-walk event was moved 800 kilometers north from Tokyo to Sapporo because of the extreme heat. And it was so hot during our race anyway. So, I know this has to change. And I want to be part of the change, especially by inspiring young people in Costa Rica to act on climate, to reduce the use of pesticides and agro-chemicals. Becoming an EcoAthletes Champion will help me do that.”

EcoAthletes CEO and founder Lew Blaustein sees Noelia as a Champion who can be an important voice for climate action for years to come. 

“Noelia is going to be a force for the #ClimateComeback,” Blaustein asserted. “She’s 21 years-old so she could have more world championships and Olympics in her future, which will build her following in Costa Rica and beyond. After her athletic career, Noelia plans to go into the law, which will give her different avenues to make a difference on climate. We are lucky to have her as an EcoAthletes Champion.”

You can follow Noelia on Instagram and Twitter