While the Americas Championships over the Sprint distance were contested in Santa Marta, Colombia, the Americas Junior titles were also on the line.
After winning the South American Junior crown earlier in the year, Andree Buc added another gold medal to his collection. The young Chilean had to work hard for his victory, though, and was pushed until the very end. Indeed, in the closing stages, any of four men could have won the race.
Caua Diniz of Brazil had been the best swimmer and opened a small gap to the field. A field-leading bike split from Buc, however, saw him take control of the race. Alongside Diniz and Sage Sulentic, Buc dragged a select group of men away from the main pack.
Thomas Castañeda Maldonado and Alfredo Miguel Rodríguez Figueroa likewise made the front, as did Daniel Epp and Evan Mahrous. One of the danger men in the field was Osvaldo Darell Zuñiga Fierro, the 5th place finisher at the World Junior Championships, and he also began to move up.
Once onto the run, Buc struck ahead early. Castañeda, Rodríguez and Zuñiga were equal to his efforts, though.
Over the course of the 5km, the quartet mostly stuck together. Each made little digs to test one another’s legs but, such was the pace, there was little scope to break away.
That was until the decisive move came from Buc. He waited for his chance to strike and took it, putting his three rivals on the back foot. Although they pushed back, Buc had too much and, with the finish line coming to view, he gritted his teeth and held on to win by 7 seconds.
Zuñiga won the final sprint to seal the silver medal. Castañeda was only 1 second behind in 3rd place while Rodríguez was another second back in 4th. After the frantic finish, the men were just about the peel themselves from the ground and accept their hard-earned medals.
If the men’s race had been tight, the women’s event was a different matter altogether.
Shorn of the North American Junior champion and the South American Junior champion, it fell to Camila Victoria Alcala Rosales to dominate proceedings. The athlete from Honduras produced an absolutely blinding display.
She had emerged from the swim just behind the leaders, with the Mexican duo of Karen Guadalupe Castro Rivas and Paola Judith Zarate Leon just ahead. Bivian Andrea Luisita Diaz Fuentes of Guatemala had been just behind Alcala and the pair jumped onto their bikes at practically the same time.
Once onto the bikes, though, the entire dynamic of the race changed.
Alcala was outstanding on two wheels. She powered into the lead and began to shed athletes from the lead group one by one. Castro managed to latch onto Alcala’s wheel while Sol Ottenhsimer Schreiber also clung on. No one else, though, could live with Alcala’s pace.
If her exertions on the bike had tired her, Alcala did not show it. Instead, she ripped the fastest 5km of the field as she stormed to victory.
Ottenhsimer lost over 3 minutes to her while Castro conceded almost 2 minutes. The only athlete able to get close to Alcala’s split was Diaz of Guatemala, however she had lost over a minute on the bike.
Alcala therefore had plenty of time to wait at the finish line as the rest of the podium arrived.
Diaz ran through to earn the silver medal with her strong run while Castro held on to claim bronze. With her wonderful display, though, all the plaudits lay with Alcala.
You can view the full results here.
