Colombia pushed its medal count to 189 at the XIII South American Games Santa Fe 2026, anchoring its position in third place on the overall medal table after securing 10 gold, five silver, and 15 bronze medals during Friday’s competition. Brazil leads the regional multi-sport event with 295 total medals, including 114 golds, while Argentina sits second with 280 total preseas and 78 golds, according to official tournament standings.
The national delegation’s Friday surge featured podium finishes across archery, track and field, tennis, taekwondo, sprint canoeing, badminton, karate, volleyball, and surf. Archery proved particularly dominant in Rosario, where the national delegation claimed the discipline’s medal table crown with seven gold, four silver, and two bronze medals.
Archery Dominance and Compound Success in Rosario
Compound archers swept individual and team podiums at the Rosario venue. Sara López and Pablo Gómez captured individual gold medals, while Alejandra Usquiano and Sebastián Arenas secured silver. Mariana Rodríguez and Jagdeep Singh rounded out the sweep by claiming bronze medals.
López and Gómez teamed up shortly after to secure another gold in the mixed compound team event. In the individual recurvo competitions, Ana María Rendón and Jorge Enríquez added two more first-place finishes to solidify archery’s dominant campaign.
Tennis and Combat Sports Medals
On the tennis courts, Juan Sebastián Gómez and Cristian Rodríguez claimed the gold medal in men’s doubles. The pair defeated Argentina’s Juan Manuel La Serna and Lautaro Midon in a hard-fought final that finished 2–6, 7–6 (11), and 10–7. María Paulina Pérez and Cristian Rodríguez added a bronze in mixed doubles by defeating Paraguay’s Leyla Britez and Martín Vergara 7–5 and 6–3.
Combat sports also added to the national tally at the Rural Nave B venue in Rosario. Daniela Quirama earned a silver medal in traditional individual poomsae after a final against Brazil’s Nicole Maciel. Quirama, Julián Ramírez, Michael Mejía, Dariana Suache, and Isaac Vélez combined for another silver in the mixed freestyle poomsae team event, while Vélez and Suache took bronze in the paired recognized poomsae division.
Karate added two podium finishes through Wendy Mosquera, who took silver in the women’s kumite –68 kg class after a final against Chile’s Anastasia Velozo, and Sofía Cárdenas, who earned bronze in the –50 kg category.
Track and Field Success in Santa Fe
In Santa Fe, the track and field team finished second in its discipline’s medal standings, collecting eight gold, five silver, and seven bronze medals. Mayra Gaviria opened the morning session with a gold medal in the hammer throw, launching 66.35 meters.
Sprint relays provided multiple titles. Ronal Longa, John Paredes, Carlos Florez, and Carlos Palacios won the men’s 4x100m relay, while Marleth Ospino, Angélica Gamboa, Danna Bánquez, and María Maturana secured gold in the women’s 4x100m relay with a national record time of 44.36 seconds. Lina Licona, Ospino, Melany Bolaño, and María Rocha added another gold in the women’s 4x400m relay.
Additional track and field podiums included bronze medals from Carlos Sanmartín in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, María Arboleda in the high jump, and the men’s 4x400m relay team featuring Neiker Abello, Daniel Balanta, Deiner Guaitoto, and Jhonatan Julio.
Team Sports and Sprint Canoeing
The men’s volleyball team concluded its tournament run by defeating Peru 3–0 (25–23, 25–19, 25–23) to claim the bronze medal. In badminton, Juliana Giraldo earned a bronze after reaching the women’s individual semifinals, where she fell to Peru’s Inés Castillo by a score of 15–21, 15–21.
Sprint canoeing added four bronze medals at the close of its events in Santa Fe: Madison Velásquez in the C1 500m; Daniel Pacheco and Velásquez in the C2 500m mixed; Narem Molina in the K1 200m; and Pacheco in the C1 1000m.
Competitions continue with upcoming finals in squash, where the women’s team of Lucía Bautista, María Tovar, and Andrea Soria faces Ecuador, alongside medal matches in water polo.
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