Allan Ayala Acevedo is a male track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 athlete from Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, specialized in the 400m intermediate hurdles event. As a junior, he was a member of the team that broke the Guatemalan 4x400 relay Junior National Record in 2004.

In 2007, Ayala ran for Dickinson State University

Dickinson State University

Dickinson State University is a four-year public university in Dickinson, North Dakota, United States, and is a part of the North Dakota University System...

 in North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

 and was named Outstanding DAC Conference Track Athlete in both indoors and outdoors events. He was runner-up in the 400IH in the NAIA

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

 national championships; also setting a new Guatemalan national record in the event. Three weeks later he set the 400 meters Guatemalan national record in Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

. He then broke his own record in the 400IH at Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. Ayala was also the only Guatemalan to run in the 2007 World Athletic Championships in Osaka, Japan.