COLOMBIA’S GOLDEN NIGHT COMES DOWN THE CURTAIN ON TRACK CYCLING IN SANTIAGO 2023

The coffee delegation won medals in all the finals played during the day, including three gold.

The Peñalolén velodrome was filled with flags, shouts and cheers to welcome what would be the final day of track cycling, in which Colombia expanded its cycling heritage and added three new gold medals to the table world medals in Santiago 2023. the Colombian team also obtained two silver medals in Madison and in the men’s pursuit, thus marking its presence in all the finals contested.

Opening the medal table of the day, the Colombian duo of Lina Rojas and Lina Hernández won gold in the women’s madison with 46 points, four more than Mexico, a country that won silver with 42, and well above the United States, which he He marched with bronze with 30 units.

Although it was a fairly close competition, due to in-competition infractions and crashes that left several riders out of competition, camaraderie was a very important factor and even more so if the medal took a long time to reach. arrive.

“The truth is that it has quite a big meaning, it is a gold that we have been dreaming of for 4 years, we saw it as a bit distant, but we managed to give this beautiful thing to Colombia”, explained Lina Hernández, who yesterday won second place in the women’s omnium.

On the other hand, Mexicans Lizbeth Salazar and María Antonieta Gaxiola obtained second place, beating the Americans, Pan American champions of Lima 2019.

“We came with a goal which was to win, so that normally didn’t happen because of some racing situations that were out of our control, because of the disqualification and my crash in particular. But hey, we are very happy and satisfied with what we achieved,” said Lizbeth Salazar, who had a bad fall during the competition.

KEVIN QUINTERO RATIFIES HIS GREATNESS AT KEIRIN

The existing favoritism towards Kevin Quintero in men’s keirin couldn’t be more correct. The current cycling world champion and defender of the title won in Lima 2019, stood out from start to finish, even more so with the rainbow knitting that he used as a symbol to be crowned champion again keirin panamerican.

The silver medal was won by Trinidadian and current Pan American men’s speed record holder, Nicholas Paul. Juan Carlos Ruiz contributed with the bronze medal to the Mexican delegation.

Quintero explained that it was a race in which he had to study a lot and analyze his rivals, because no race is easy and all keirin are different, especially this time when he used the colorful knits of the world champion.

“We feel a certain power that carries him, it was not gratuitous. I’m glad there are so many athletes in America. At the moment there are many athletes who are, so to speak, at the European level and that makes me happy and proud,” explained the new Pan American champion.

MARTHA BAYONA NUMBER ONE

The current vice-champion and Colombian figure of the Cycling World Cup held in Glasgow, Martha Bayona, added her second gold medal in this edition, with the victory obtained in the modality sprint. Mexico’s Yuli Verdugo won silver, while North American Mandy Marquardt won bronze after beating Brazil.

“I managed to set a good time over 200 meters and that makes me happy. I dream of being a world and Olympic champion, we have trained all this and now, step by step, I hope this day will come,” commented Bayona.

CANADA AND A GOLD FOR HISTORY

In the men’s team pursuit event, the Canadian team of Carson Mattern, Christopher Ernst, Michael Foley, Sean Richardson and David Parrish won the first Pan American gold medal with a time of 3:53.593. This type of modality requires great coordination to defeat the opposing team.

After a race full of intensity, Canada won gold, leaving behind Colombia and the United States (winners of Lima-2019 in the team pursuit), delegations which won silver and bronze respectively.

“It was a good training trip and we are happy that it was a great success. “We are a very young team, we are looking for a lot of experience and we want to persevere,” Carson Mattern said.

MEXICO SCREWED THE MEN’S MADISON

To close with a spicy finale, the Mexican team made up of Fernando Nava and Ricardo Peña showed all its qualities in Madison, one of the most exciting tests, which also measures the resistance of the athletes with its 200 laps of the track. track to complete (50 kilometers).

Dominant from start to finish, the Central American delegation won the gold medal with 90 points, almost double the 46 points obtained by Colombia, the team that won silver. For their part, Americans Colby Lange and Grant Koontz won bronze with 43 points.

“It was hard because I saw that he wasn’t getting up, everything we were working on was going through my mind and it wouldn’t get lost. The good thing is that we know each other and from there our chip changed, we started the race badly, but we performed well,” said Ricardo Peña.

By Fernanda Castillo Á. and Vicente Quiñones