Long distance runner Diddier Rodríguez conquered the gold medal and set a new South American record in the 3,000 meters with obstacles during the closing day of the XIII South American Games Santa Fe 2026.
Rodríguez stopped the clock on Argentine soil at 8:31.89 minutes to set his personal best and claim victory, beating the Brazilian Walace Evangelista (8:32.33) and the Colombian Carlos Sanmartín (8:33.01) in a tight finish.
Added to this feat in the South American competition surfing, Edwin Núñez won a gold medal in the men’s final bodyboardwhile in the women’s surfing branch, Verónica Correa finished in fifth place in the test.
In archery, The mixed recurve duo made up of Gisela Cowan Chang and Liborio Saavedra finished in fourth position after beating Colombia 5-1 in the quarterfinals, losing 1-5 to Argentina in the semifinals and losing 2-6 to Chile in the duel for the bronze medal.
For its part, the taekwondo team concluded its performance in poomsae traditional (sequence of pre-established defense and attack movements that simulate a combat against several imaginary opponents) with Daniela Rodríguez and Joseph Rodríguez losing in the quarterfinals in their individual brackets, as well as in the mixed couples test against the representation of Paraguay.
With these results, Panama with a delegation of 88 athletes in 20 sports closed its participation in Santa Fe 2026 with a total of 16 medals (five gold, three silver and eight bronze), posting the best performance in its history in the South American Games since its affiliation to the South American Sports Organization (Odesur) in 1994.
