Venezuelan Sports Stars in the News

The Venezuelan race car driver Milka Duno finished 19th in the Indianapolis 500 last weekend. Despite a crash, Duno was with the lead pack for most of the race, and showed much improvement over last year’s finish in 31st place. Here are some more staggering numbers: the race lasted 3 and a half hours, the average speed of the cars was 143 miles per hour, and the winner collected $2.98 million!

Milka Duno was been one of the most exciting new recruits in indy car racing. As a talented, beautiful and seriously smart newcomer to the sport, she has attracted many fans. See our previous posts on Milka’s magnetism.

Today, we remember the baseball player Geremi González, who died last Sunday after being struck by lightning in his native state of Zulia, Venezuela. González had pitched for five different Major League Baseball teams, including the Chicago Cubs, which held a moment of silence for the player yesterday.

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U.S. Newspaper Editors Visit Venezuela, Duno Accelerates

Last week, the American Society of Newspaper Editors went to Venezuela on a fact-finding mission. Their travels included a meeting with President Hugo Chavez. You can read about their observations, and what the Venezuelan leader had to say, in the Orlando Sentinel (editor Charlotte Hall is pictured here) and the Boston Globe.

Cultural figures from Venezuela have also been in the news lately. For all those sports fans, you may be interested to know that the increasingly popular Milka Duno qualified on Sunday for the Indy 500. She enters the race next weekend in her Citgo-sponsored car, ranked two spots higher than last year. You can also catch her silver screen cameo in the new movie Speed Racer.

The Venezuelan music education guru and founder of the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra, Jose Antonio Abreu, was made an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society at their annual awards ceremony in London last week. Thanks to the unique vision and leadership of Abreu, the Society exuded in a statement, “lives are being transformed, communities empowered, and orchestras built for the future.” That is certainly worth celebrating.

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Venezuelan Driver Milka Duno Accelerates with Ease

Venezuelan race car driver Milka Duno is burning up the ovals. A sophomore competitor in the IndyCar series, she is currently ranked 26th among 41 drivers, and appears to be progressing fast. Milka is one of three women set to compete in the Indy 500 this Memorial Day weekend.

Believe it or not, Milka has also made an impression in Hollywood. She graced the red carpet last Saturday at the premiere of the new movie Speed Racer, in which she plays the role of the eccentric Russian driver Kellie “Gearbox” Kalinkov.

Duno’s own story is amazing — she is a trained Naval Engineer and holds four master’s degrees. She first hopped in a race car only a decade ago, and just for fun.

Now that we’ve got your motor running, check out Milka’s career stats and read about her record-setting successes. And keep an eye out for her children’s book, Go, Milka, Go!

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Venezuela’s Fastest Female: Milka Duno

Venezuelan race-car driver Milka Duno rocketed to international stardom when she won the Grand Prix of Miami in 2004.

Last year, she was one of only three women in the Indy 500. Now, Duno has been signed for a second season in the IndyCar Series and is set to drive the #23 CITGO-sponsored Honda Dallara.

It so happens that Milka Duno’s talents go far beyond the race track: she holds 4 Master’s degrees in science and engineering, and has written a children’s book called “Go, Milka, Go!” Remember that old ’80s song, “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”? Well, the New York Post recently reported that Milka Duno owns over 200 pairs of sunglasses. Sounds about right.

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