Lourdes Klitzkie

Lourdes Palomo Klitzkie (born 2 February 1940) is a Guamanian long-distance runner and professor of education. Klitzkie began long-distance running in her late thirties to combat boredom, later qualifying to represent Guam at the 1988 Summer Olympics upon recording a time below the Guamanian qualifying standard of 3:30 in the marathon.

Klitzkie was the oldest Guamanian athlete at the 1988 Olympics, and the oldest competitor in the women's marathon at the games. She placed 63rd out of the 64 athletes who completed the race.

Biography Lourdes Palomo (The sports database Olympedia states that Klitzkie's full name is Lourdes Mendiola Klitzkie.) Palomo earned her bachelor's degree for elementary education in 1970 at the University of Guam.

Around the time of her graduation from Utah State University, Klitzkie, at the age of 39, took up long-distance running to combat boredom. At the time, she lived in Albuquerque, and her husband was studying for the bar exam in California. She ran fourteen marathons, She qualified for the Guamanian team for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, after recording a time below the Guamanian qualifying standard of 3:30 in the marathon. In June 1988, upon learning that she had qualified, she stated: "I couldn't believe it. I said, 'Boy I'm at the right place at the right time. There, Klitzkie was the oldest woman on the Guamanian delegation and the oldest competitor in the women's marathon at the age of 48. She later became a professor at the University of Guam.