Day 12 Santiago 2023: Chile celebrated a high-impact gold medal in the women’s 400 meters

Martina Weil, daughter of former Chilean shot putter Gert Weil and Colombian Olympic medalist Ximena Restrepo, celebrated with excitement in her homeland when she passed the finish line in 51.48 and overtook Ecuador’s Nicole Caicedo (51.76) and Colombia’s Evelis Aguilar (51.95) in the 400-meter flat. Dominating the race without setbacks, Weil gave the local delegation the eighth gold medal in a star discipline such as athletics.

In the same distance, but between men, Colombian Anthony Zambrano, world runner-up and Olympic champion, was disqualified in the final, in which Brazil’s Lucas Conceiçao won. Zambrano, who was defending the title won in the last round of Lima 2019, finished the race in third place with a time of 46.37, behind Conceiçao (45.77) and Mexico’s Luis Avilés (45.97). After the post-arrival review, Zambrano was disqualified for having crossed the lane, so there was no medal for the great candidate to keep the test.

The one who was able to repeat what accomplished in Lima 2019 and become two-time Pan-American champion was Diego Elías from Peru in squash. In the men’s single, Elías beat Colombian Miguel Ángel Rodríguez 3-1 and won the gold medal, which was the seventh medal of that color for the Inca delegation.

Yesterday was also a day of definitions for group sports. In men’s field hockey, Argentina beat the United States in the semifinals and will face Chile in the defining match for Pan-American glory and qualification to Paris 2024. The locals had to define their semifinal against Canada by shoot-out, an instance in which goalkeeper Adrián Henríquez became the figure of Los Diablos and contained two pitches to qualify Chile for the final of the Pan American Games.

Men’s handball, meanwhile, defined its semifinal crosses. Argentina, which beat Cuba 28-20, will face Chile tomorrow, Friday, which closed the group stage with a loss to Brazil in Viña del Mar. The other key will be between Brazilians and Americans.

In men’s soccer, Brazil beat Mexico in the semifinals 1-0 with a goal against Antonio Leone. Its rival in the match for the gold medal will be Chile, a team led by Argentinian Eduardo Berizzo, who is also the coach of the National Team. With a goal from Alexander Aravena, the host team secured their place in the grand final and sent the United States to compete for the bronze medal.

After 12 days of competition, the United States remains at the top of the medal table and is close to reaching 200 total medals. In second place is Brazil with 136 total medals: 40 gold, 53 silver and 43 bronze. Canada closes the podium of honor on the third rung of the medal table with 116 metals.