Venezuela continues adding medals to its tally in the South American Games of Santa Fe 2026, the third stop of the Olympic cycle, and already has three gold medals. The first of them was won by Katherin Echandia in weightlifting.
Echandia, a 25-year-old woman from Carabobo who was a youth Olympic champion, competed in the 53-kilogram category in Santa Fe. With 111 kilos lifted in the clean and jerk in her last attempt, she had a total of 198 kg that took her to the top of the podium.
“I feel very happy to have achieved this achievement for Venezuela, I would not have achieved it without the support of the federation and the ministry,” Echandia declared to the Mindeporte press department. “I am proud of having managed to have our anthem played in Argentina.”
Two other Venezuelans who competed in weightlifting on Monday did not have the same luck as Katherin Echandia. Wilkeinner Lugo finished fourth in the 65 kg category and Mariangeli Martínez was left out of the medal fight in 49 kilograms.
Most medals in swimming
After Echandia opened the account, two more gold medals arrived for Venezuela in this edition of the South American Games. Swimming continued to give satisfaction to the vinotinto delegation and saw two of its representatives qualify.
Lismar Lyon, who could not compete in the Santo Domingo CAC due to the death of his father, returned to the pools in a leading role. She won the 50 meter butterfly with a record for the Games of 26.38 and surpassed the Brazilian Giulia Carvalho (26.49) and Sirena Rowe with (26.79).
“I didn’t know if I was going to come, I went through many difficult moments,” Lyon told Mindeporte. “I think the most important thing is to get up and move on. What that special person wanted most was for me to be here enjoying it and why not give them the pleasure.” Later she won a bronze in the 4×100 combined with Carla González, Mercedes Toledo and Daniela Pacheco with a record of 4:11.16
Jorge Otaiza followed in his footsteps and won gold in the men’s 50 butterfly. With his time of 23.60 he surpassed the Argentines Santiago Grassi (23.62) and Ulises Cazau (23.84).
*With information from Mindeporte
