Guaitoto and Maturana lead Colombian dominance at Pan American U20 Championships

Sprinters Deiner Guaitoto and Maria Camila Maturana led the host country to top the medals table at the Pan American U20 Championships, held at El Salitre stadium in Bogota.

With the city located at more than 2600m above sea level, sprinters and hurdlers produced the most notable performances over three days of competition (October 3-5), led by Guaitoto, who completed the sprint triple.

The 18-year-old took the men’s 100m title in 10.44 on the opening day, anchored his team to the 4x100m crown on Saturday and finished off with a comfortable win in the 200m in 21.05 into a slight headwind.

Compatriot Camila Maturana took the women’s 100m title, holding off a strong challenge from Puerto Rico’s Frances Colon, who arrived in Bogota with a faster personal best.

Maturana led her semifinal with wind-aided 11.33 as Colon dominated hers with a wind-legal 11.34. Maturana prevailed in the final, running 11.39 into a slight head wind, ahead of Colon (11.46).

Two days later, both clashed again over 200m and Maturana won easily with a personal best of 23.36 (-1.9m/s). Colon took silver in the 200m (23.79) but left Bogota with the 4x100m gold in a national U20 record of 44.58.

Three of the four women who earned fifth place for Puerto Rico at the 2024 World U20 Championships were part of that record-breaking run: leadoff athlete and long jump gold medallist Legna Echevarria, Colon on the second leg and anchor Karina Franceshi. With Darelis Domínguez on the third leg, the squad improved their own national mark by more than half a second.

Isabella Hurtado Reyes was another multiple winner over the weekend. The 18-year-old, a 4x400m finalist with Colombia at the 2024 World U20 Championships, took the 400m title in 54.18 and added the mixed and women’s 4x400m relay honours.

Ecuadorian athletes also excelled in Bogota. Ian Andrey Pata improved his personal best to a national U20 record of 46.33 to beat Axel Jose Gomez of Venezuela (46.43) in the men’s 400m.

At only 18 years of age, Jose Luis Guevara Ortiz took the upper hand in an electrifying 110m hurdles final, winning with 13.52, having set a national U20 record of 13.48 in the semifinals. He was pushed all the way by Puerto Rico’s Luis Ezequiel Orta (13.54) and Colombia’s Geronimo Canizales (13.59), also with big personal bests for both.

World U20 finalist Belsy Jenniffer Quinonez added another gold for Ecuador, winning the women’s shot put with 16.35m. The men’s title went to Brazil’s Alessandro Borges with 19.74m.

Venezuela’s Ricardo Montes, the only athlete at these championships who had competed at this year’s World Championships in Tokyo, dominated the men’s pole vault with 5.20m.

Max Moraga won the men’s decathlon by more than 1000 points with a PB of 7012. He was one of three Chilean athletes to earn gold, alongside men’s 400m hurdles winner Ramon Fuenzalida (51.77) and women’s 100m hurdles champion Catalina Rozas (13.60).

Colombia comfortably dominated the medal tally with 50 medals (16 gold, 14 silver and 20 bronze), followed by Ecuador (6-8-5) and Brazil (6-5-0). Ten nations won at least one medal.

With the championships held outside its typical summer window, some leading athletics nations in the continent were absent, including the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean islands.

Javier Clavelo Robinson for World Athletics