Career
In 1991, he was a Pan American Games 5 Gold Medalist and 1 Silver Medalist in Sprint Kayak in Havana, Cuba. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, for Cuba, he was a Semifinalist of both the K-1 500 m and the K-2 1000 m events. In 1993 he and two other Cuban athletes sneaked away from an altitude training center in Mexico City, and sought asylum in Miami.
In 1996, while already a resident of the United States of America and being a qualified Olympic United States Canoe and Kayak Team member, he was not able to participate in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games because he was not yet a United States Citizen.
Four years later in the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, for the United States, United States Citizen Pérez finished sixth in both the K-2 500 m and the K-4 1000 m events. Angel Perez was able to compete in Sydney, Australia despite a legal battle in the Olympic Court of Arbitrations, as Cuba fought in International Courts not to allow his former athlete to compete for the United States of America. A few hours before the start of the Sydney Games, Perez was legally allowed to compete.
In 2004, he qualified for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, retiring shortly after, to pursue other careers.
