José Sánchez began his cycling career when he was 15-years-old, with him competing in the sport for the next 13 years. In 1959 Sánchez was named as the Rookie of the Year by the Costa Rican Circle of Sports Journalists and Broadcasters. In addition to racing all across Central America, he became the winner of the inaugural edition of the Vuelta Ciclista a Costa Rica in 1965, winning three stages along the way and the King of the Mountains classification. Sánchez had further stage wins at his home cycling race in 1966 and 1967, before finishing second overall in 1968. These performances earned him a place on the Olympic team for the Mexico City Games, where he competed in both the road race and team time trial, finishing 27th in the latter. A four-time national road cycling champion, Sánchez was later awarded with the Gold Medal for Sporting Merit by the President of Costa Rica.
Costa Rica