Santa Fe, which hosted the South American Games last month, welcomed the continent’s under-23 athletes this time around. With 13 countries competing, Brazil topped the medal table, while Venezuela finished second for the first time in many years.
Venezuela’s Glanyernis Guerra won both the 100m and 200m titles, while Osmary Pacheco claimed gold in the 400m. The country stood out with its sprinters’ performances and won its first-ever U23 gold medal in the 4x100m relay. Venezuela’s other titles came in combined events.
Peruvian middle-distancer Anita Poma won the 1500m in 4:19.91, breaking the championship record. The 23-year-old athlete, who has won continental titles across all age categories, also claimed gold in the same event two years ago. Poma finished second in the 800m, another event in which the championship record was broken. In that race, Brazil’s Sabrina Pena clocked 2:05.38, breaking a record that had stood since 2008.
Belsy Quinonez, the silver medallist in the shot put at the World U20 Championships, won gold for Ecuador with a 17.07m throw. This was the best performance recorded in the event at the championships since 2012.
Brazil continued to collect medals in the jumping events, achieving a one-two finish in four disciplines. However, in the technical events, where performances were generally modest, no athlete challenged the championship records.
In the half-marathon race walk, which was included in the programme for the first time, Colombia’s Ruby Segura won the women’s event, while Peru’s Jaime Ccanto took the men’s title. Brazil missed out on gold in the mixed 4x400m relay, with Ecuador taking the title, but topped the podium in the mixed 4x100m relay in 42.83 seconds.
