Only 57 seconds separated the Peruvian Kimberly García from the top of the podium; however, the silver medal is the reward for the athlete from Huancayo after all her effort. Peru has three silver medals in athletics competitions and a total of 17. It’s something historic for sports in Peru.

People cheered her on during the 20 km race. She kept pace with Sandra Arenas (gold), but the Colombian took the lead in the final kilometers, and it was difficult for the Peruvian to reach her.

Arenas clocked a time of 1:28:03 and set a new Pan American record. This shows the high level of the competitors, who did not give up until they reached the finish line at Parque Kennedy. The bronze was awarded to the Brazilian Erica Sena, who was also sanctioned for breaking some of the rules in the event.

“It’s the first time that I have won a medal in the Pan American Games and it was amazing to receive the affection from our people. People’s support in the streets was essential because it helped me not to fail and make a good mark (1:29:00). Now, I only hope to be at 100% at the Tokyo Olympic Games,” added the athlete.

Likewise, champion Arenas pointed out that she only focused on the competition, in spite of the adverse weather conditions. “It’s historic for race walking in Peru because Peruvians had never won gold in the Pan American Games, and even achieved a Pan American record in this competition. I had worked very hard with my coaches and the department of psychology to make this possible and we did it,” said the Colombian.

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The Lima 2019 Pan American Games continue to offer the most impressive multi-sports event in the Americas on its twelfth competition day. The most successful delegations in this continent will compete for the gold in 12 sports to reach the top of the medal table. Peru will aim for a new medal in the 20-kilometer race walk to become the Americas’ leading country in this sport. In Punta Rocas, the Peruvian delegation could make history as it faces the chance to win six medals.

The race walking event will start at 8:00 in Parque Kennedy. The race will start at Parque Kennedy, to continue along Av. José Larco as far as Calle Tarata, and will return on the same street up to Óvalo de Miraflores. The Peruvian representatives in the women’s event are Kimberly García and Mary Luz Andia. In the men’s event, José Carlos Mamani from Puno will be the Peruvian representative. As for García and Andia, they already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The surfing final, one of the most expected events, will start at Punta Rocas High Performance Center at 9:00. Surfers Benoit ”Piccolo” Clemente, Daniela Rosa and Luca Mesinas, as well as Vania Torres, will represent Peru in the finals. Maria Fernanda Reyes and Tamil Martino will compete in the repechage final phase, meaning a potentially historic result for Peru. A Peruvian victory would grant Peru a leading position in this sport at an international level.

In the first round of men’s football group B, the Peruvian team will face Jamaica at San Marcos stadium. The remaining matches are Panama-Argentina; Ecuador-Mexico and Honduras-Uruguay.

Moreover, Eduardo Dibós Coliseum will host the men’s basketball finals at 18:00.

Meanwhile, the final games of baseball, one of the most popular sports in the continent, will start at 11:05. The Puerto Rico, United States, Argentina and Dominican Republic teams will be ready to hit the home runs that will give them the chance to win the gold, silver and bronze medals.

In the National Sports Village velodrome, the fastest cyclists in the Americas will compete in the track cycling finals, which will be divided in two sessions, starting at 11:05. The Peruvian team will compete in the event, as well as the United States, Chile, Venezuela, Mexico, among other teams.

LUNAHUANÁ AND BUJAMA

The best athletes in the Americas will seek to swiftly cross the fast-moving waters of the Cañete River to win the gold medal in the canoe slalom event. The final event will start at 9:00.

Likewise, Brazil, United States, Argentina, among other teams, will compete to obtain the gold, silver and bronze medals at the Club Lawn Tennis. The exciting end of the tennis events will start at 11:00.

In the Callao Sports Center, the Brazil, Cuba, Chile and Argentina teams will fight for the gold, silver and bronze medals in men’s volleyball at 9:00.

In Laguna Bujama, the Americas' top swimmers will showcase their skills and endurance in the challenging 10-kilometer open water swimming final at 9:00. Meanwhile, the most skilled gymnasts of the Americas will try to clinch gold in the different rhythmic gymnastics competitions to take place at the Villa El Salvador Sports Center at 16:00.

VIDENA

On the penultimate day of diving competitions, two events will be held at the VIDENA Aquatic Center at 10:00. In this event, the athletes will fight for the gold, silver and bronze medals in an intense series of competitions. Additionally, riders will compete for the gold in the jumping event at 8:00 in the Army Equestrian School.

Finally, the final rounds of handball, racquetball, softball and hockey will determine which teams will reach the podium. As for trampoline gymnastics, Basque pelota, water polo, table tennis and sailing, these events will start their qualification stages at Lima 2019, on the way to their finals.

To get more information about the competition schedule and results, you can visit the website: https://www.lima2019.pe/resultados.

Spectacular jumps and obstacles in the water and ring were performed at the equestrian sports venue in La Molina, where many families gathered to see the best athlete/horse combinations in the continent in the eventing individual (cross-country) and team competitions.

This venue had moments of excitement and tension when the Colombian rider Mauricio Bermúdez fell into the “Titicaca Lake” water obstacle in the cross-country ring.

The Peruvian combination delivered an excellent performance in the ring, and three of four riders qualified. They are Diego Farje with Qouter; Marcelino Cárdenas with Vento, and Juan José Luis Francia with Alpacino Z.

In the team event, the Peruvian representatives also qualified together with the United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico. The international competition continues tomorrow starting at 10:00 with the eventing individual (jump finals) and team (jumping qualifier) competitions, where medalists will be determined.

The Army Equestrian School has an eventing circuit (cross-country), with 4600 m of new grass.

Besides, the main stage for jumping and dressage: three tracks for competition, warm-up and training, made of silica sand, with a total of 19,500 m2, built according to the standards and requirements of the International Equestrian Federation.

To get more information about the competition schedule and results, you can visit the website: https://www.lima2019.pe/resultados.

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The night ended at Lawn Tennis with a new medal for Peru, when the doubles team formed by Anastacia Iamachkine and a tireless Sergio Galdós —he had won bronze in men’s doubles one and a half hour before— defeated the athletes the team from Guatemala by 2 sets to 0. 

The Peruvian national team took one hour and seven minutes to add a new bronze award for their country in the official medal table at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. 

Peruvians supremacy was evident since the start of the match as they showed a better mutual understanding against the team from Guatemala, formed by Andrea Weedon and Wilfredo González. 

The stands were colored in white and red to support the Peruvian team and cheered for them during the whole match. They made waves and their chanting inspired the Peruvian team.  

The first set ended 7-5 in 38 minutes and the second set ended 6-1 and lasted less than half and hour. Iamachkine and Galdós cross-court shots set the pace of this competition from the very and start and until the end.  

With this result, Peru collects 16 medals at the end of the first week of competitions and still wants to win more in the next days.

The hours prior to the historic day for the Peruvian surfing team will be endless. Tomorrow Sunday, August 4, six of the Peruvian representatives will try to stand on the highest step of the podium. Surfing’s debut has been taking place at Punta Rocas beach.  

Four of them, Benoit Clemente (longboard), Vania Torres (surf SUP), Daniella Rosas, and Luca Mesinas (surf open) secured their spots in the final. Also, the last two competitors will try to obtain quotas for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

Competitions will start from 9:00 with the repechage for the bronze medal, in which two members of the Team Peru will try to get into the finals. The first to go into the sea will be Tamil Martino in SUP competition, followed by María Fernanda Reyes in women’s longboard. If they move to the finals, the Peruvian team will seek the gold medal; otherwise, they will pick up the bronze. 

With these achievements, Peru solidifies themselves as top surfing contenders in the Pan American Games, after seven surfers compete for medals (with Itzel Delgado’s bronze medal). Punta Rocas beach is highly related to Peruvian surf, since that year when Felipe Pomar ruled its waves and won the 1965 Surf World Championships for the first time.

One more medal. At the darkest moment of the tennis match, the lights came on and the audience in the grandstands cheered on the Peruvian team composed of Sergio Galdón and Juan Pablo Varillas. It encouraged them to turn the game around and beat Bolivia to reach the bronze medal at these Pan American Games.

The match started well for the Peruvian team, who was ahead 4-1. Then, all serves, volleys and spikes made the team finish the first set with 6-3. In spite of the intense cold, this result thrilled the audience.

In the second set, Boris Arias and Federico Zevallos from Bolivia changed their strategy and beat the Peruvian team 6-3 in 38 minutes.

This score led them to the tie-break to get the bronze. At the start of this final stage, the Bolivian duo was winning most of the set. However, Galdós and Varillas regained control and reached the final score of 12-10, which gave us one more medal at the Lima 2019 Games. 

Gymnastics is a discipline, which will undoubtedly be further developed in the next few years in Peru, thanks to the infrastructure that will remain after the Lima 2019 Pan American and Parapan American Games. 

Ariana Orrego, with only 20 years old and one of the Peruvian representatives in this sport, is very clear on that. In an interview with accredited media in the Main Press Center located at the Lima Convention Center, in San Borja, she emphasized that “everything you need to be a good gymnast is in Peru.” 

“The Villa El Salvador Sports Center is new and fully equipped.  There is no longer any need to leave the country (to receive a high-performance training),” she said to the press. 

Moreover, she highlighted the amazing support of the fans, even though in many cases they didn’t know the sport, and even more as being locals. For this reason, she dared to advise children, who (with the attention generated by the Games) are willing to practice sports. 

“It is good that they start practicing sports from an early age,” she said. She expressed her satisfaction with her performance in the competition, as she met the goals she set to reach the final stage. “Now, I’m going for more,” she concluded. 

It is worth mentioning that Ariana participated along with Fabiola Díaz in the women’s artistic gymnastics balance beam finals, and placed eighth and fourth, respectively.

After assessing the first week of the Games, the Panam Sports Secretary General, Ivar Sisniega, assured that “they are very satisfied with the development of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.” 

“We are truly happy. The first week of the Games was great,” stated Sisniega after mentioning that millions of people could watch the Pan American Games opening ceremony and that the Organizing Committee received positive comments on the excellent broadcast from different countries. 

He also said that the Pan American Games and the Olympic Games seek to have a positive influence and impact on millions of people to inspire athletes in the Americas. “Panam Sports is satisfied due to the good quality of the broadcast,” he mentioned during a press conference, joined by the Lima 2019 Games Operations Manager, Alberto Valenzuela. 

Additionally, he congratulated the Lima 2019 Pan American Games Organizing Committee for quickly reacting to unforeseen events. “This ability speaks well of the Organizing Committee,” he said. 

Moreover, he stated that volunteers of this sports event are the best he had ever seen. For him, they help and treat people nicely by welcoming them joyfully and smiling. 

He also highlighted the warmth of Peruvians who made the athletes from different countries participating in these Games feel like they were at home. 

Sports Venues  

Sisniega also confirmed that sports venues were ready on time, as well as the Pan American Village, where athletes live and rest. “It works wonderfully,” he stressed. 

He admitted that the main concern was transportation, as it is difficult to travel around Lima. Despite this, everything is working quite well. Furthermore, he expressed his gratitude for the comprehension of citizens because it allows athletes to arrive quickly at the venues. 

“Everybody is working to ensure everything goes at good pace with a positive attitude, so that Peruvians feel proud of leaving a good impression after the Games,” he pointed out. 

The representative of Panam Sports asked Peruvians to take advantage of the top-level infrastructure, use budget to maintain sports facilities, and hire qualified coaches. 

He stressed the importance of keeping these venues in good conditions, making proper use of them and encouraging hundreds of Peruvians to practice any sport at them, so that Lima 2019 marks a before and after. 

Tickets 

He mentioned that 80% of tickets have been already sold for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games competitions taking place at different venues. For this reason, he highlighted the continuously good public response.

Almost immediately after obtaining the bronze medal for Peru, the country's 13th medal at Lima 2019, the young Peruvian surfer Itzel Delgado highlighted the legacy that the High Performance Center at Punta Rocas Beach leaves for Peruvian surfing.

During a press conference offered to provide details on the progress of the Pan American Games, the outstanding Peruvian athlete thanked Panam Sports for promoting lesser-known sports “in front of a worldwide audience”.

"I am very grateful for the legacy left by Lima 2019 with this high-performance center, a world-class facility, which will help the development of surfing, so that Peru wins more medals in the Pan American Games, the Olympics and world championships," he said.

“GOOSEBUMPS”

Although he claimed the gold medal in this discipline, American surfer Connor Baxter confessed feeling “goosebumps” in his first Pan American Games surfing competition.

“Being with a lot of athletes and spectators, I got goosebumps. It was an awesome experience. Thank you for the hard work done behind the scenes. We arrived (in Lima) and focused on winning any medal,” he said humbly.

It is worth mentioning that stand-up paddle surfing consists of an open ocean race where the athlete, standing on a board and supported by one paddle, completes a round-trip circuit.

The competition starts in the sand, up to the buoys placed in the sea, and ends when the competitor crosses the finish line with the paddle in hand.

He had all the pressure on him. He needed to hit four targets to win a medal, but nothing stopped Nicolás Pacheco. The Peruvian shooter was encouraged by thousands at Las Palmas Air Base, as he passed the shoot-out stage and climbed to the third step of the podium in the skeet event. 

After the elimination stage, Pacheco gave a good performance that allowed him to get into the top three of the competition. Although he achieved 42 shoots like the Guatemalan Juan Shaeffer (silver medal), Pacheco was penalized by the judges in the tiebreaker since he had finished sixth in the overall qualification ranking. Christian Elliott from USA landed the gold medal. 

Even though Pacheco did not finish among the first two to obtain the direct qualification to Tokyo 2020, he reached the quota place because the United States already had one in advance. Nicolás joins his teammate, Marko Carrillo, who already qualified for the Olympic Games next year; the marathon runner Christian Pacheco; the race walkers Mary Luz Andia and Kimberly García; the shooter Alessandro de Souza; the cyclist Royner Navarro; and the sailor Stefano Peschiera.  

  With this, Peru has obtained 15 medals so far at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.

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