Colombia secured a strong fourth-place finish in the medal table at the IV Bolivarian Games, capping a competitive multisport showing across athletics, judo, cycling and swimming events held in Ayacucho, Peru. The nation accumulated 22 gold, 28 silver, and 31 bronze medals, totaling 81 podium finishes — a performance that underscored its growing regional competitiveness while highlighting areas for development ahead of the next continental cycle.
The Bolivarian Games, organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (ODEBO), brought together athletes from Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela across 34 sports. Host Peru led the standings with 44 gold medals, followed by Venezuela (33) and Ecuador (26), leaving Colombia just shy of the podium despite a balanced contribution from individual and team disciplines.
In judo, Colombia claimed two bronze medals through Sharol Angulo in the women’s 81 kg category and Valeria Vargas in the women’s 78 kg division. Angulo, a 2023 Pan American Championships medalist, dropped her semifinal to Venezuela’s Elvismar Rodríguez but rebounded to defeat Chile’s María Pérez in the bronze match. Vargas, competing in her first major international event since recovering from a knee injury, lost to Ecuador’s Vanessa Chalá in the semis before securing third place against Panama’s Kristine Jiménez. Both athletes cited the experience as vital for their Olympic qualification trajectory toward Los Angeles 2028.
Cycling emerged as another bright spot, with Valeria Vargas — no relation to the judoka — delivering a dual-medal performance in road events. Vargas won silver in the women’s individual time trial, finishing 12 seconds behind Ecuador’s Miryam Núñez, before claiming bronze in the road race after a tactical move in the final kilometer saw her outsprint Chile’s Paola Muñoz for third. Her results marked Colombia’s best cycling haul at the Bolivarian Games since 2017 and positioned her as a contender for the upcoming Pan American Championships in São Paulo.
Track and field contributed significantly to Colombia’s tally, with sprinters Anthony Zambrano and Evelyn Rivera leading the charge. Zambrano, the 2019 World Championships silver medalist in the 400m, defended his Bolivarian title with a time of 44.91 seconds, edging out Venezuela’s José Luis Gaspar by 0.15 seconds. Rivera captured gold in the women’s 100m hurdles in 13.02 seconds, a season-best performance that moved her into the top 10 on Colombia’s all-time list. The duo’s successes were complemented by medals in the relays, where both men’s and women’s 4x100m squads took silver.
Swimming added depth to Colombia’s medal count, particularly through young talent Isabella Páez, who won gold in the women’s 200m butterfly (2:12.45) and silver in the 400m individual medley (4:51.80). Páez, training under Colombian national coach Ricardo González, noted the Games served as a critical confidence-builder ahead of her first World Championships appearance in Doha later this year. Her performances helped Colombia finish third in swimming behind Peru and Ecuador, a marked improvement from sixth place in 2022.
Team sports yielded mixed results. The men’s volleyball team fell short of a medal after losing the bronze-medal match to Chile in four sets, while the women’s basketball squad secured bronze with a 68–61 victory over Panama, led by 18 points from guard Manuela Ríos. Football, traditionally a strength, saw both senior sides eliminated in the group stage — a outcome that prompted public commentary from federation president Ramón Jesurún about the need to prioritize youth development in upcoming qualifier windows.
Colombia’s fourth-place finish reflects a broader trend of narrowing gaps among Andean nations in regional multisport competition. While Venezuela and Ecuador have invested heavily in centralized training programs over the past decade, Colombia’s decentralized model — reliant on departmental leagues and university sports — continues to produce elite individual performers but struggles with consistency in team sports. ODEBO Secretary General Claudio León acknowledged the progress, telling El Tiempo that “Colombia’s depth in athletics and combat sports remains a pillar of its regional presence.”
Looking ahead, Colombian Olympic Committee President Baltazar Medina emphasized that the Bolivarian Games serve as a stepping stone, not a endpoint. “Our focus now shifts to the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción and the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo,” Medina said in a post-event press briefing. “We’ll use these results to refine our preparation for Los Angeles 2028, particularly in sports where we’re within striking distance of the podium.”
For global readers, the Bolivarian Games — held every four years since 1938 — rotate among member nations and function as a key developmental platform for emerging athletes across South America. Ayacucho, situated at over 2,700 meters above sea level in the Andes, presented unique challenges related to acclimatization, particularly for endurance athletes. Several Colombian cyclists and long-distance runners reported mild altitude sickness upon arrival, though all competed after a five-day adaptation period in nearby Huanta.
The next edition of the Bolivarian Games is scheduled for 2029 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, giving Colombia roughly four years to address gaps in team coordination and youth pipeline integration. In the interim, athletes will return to their respective World Cup and continental qualifying circuits, with many targeting qualification events for the 2027 Pan American Games in Barranquilla — a home Games opportunity that Colombian officials have identified as a strategic priority.
As the delegation departed Ayacucho, head of mission María Isabel Urrutia — a former Olympic weightlifting gold medalist — reflected on the team’s resilience. “We didn’t win the most medals, but we competed with dignity in every event,” she said. “That’s what builds lasting programs.”
Colombia’s performance at the IV Bolivarian Games reaffirms its status as a consistent top-five contender in regional multisport competition. While the fourth-place finish may not satisfy those chasing podium glory, the breadth of medalists across 12 sports signals a foundation capable of growth — provided investment follows performance. For now, the focus turns to the horizon, where the next challenge awaits not in victory laps, but in the quiet work of preparation.
Stay tuned to Archysport for ongoing coverage of Colombian athletes as they prepare for upcoming continental qualifiers and the road to Los Angeles 2028.
