The Americas Championships over the Olympic and Sprint distances have been and gone this autumn. However, championship racing for the region still had an event to go.
The Pan American Games are a quadrennial competition for the countries of the Americas with the 2023 edition being hosted by Santiago, Chile. In a similar manner to the Asian Games, the event offers immense regional prestige. Taking place every four years, a Pan American Games gold can also be an elusive medal with athletes only ever getting a few bites at the cherry.
In somewhat cool temperatures, the athletes took on the 2023 event in front of packed streets, producing two dramatic Olympic distance races.
Women’s race
Lizeth Rueda Santos of Mexico was back at the Pan American Games twelve years after racing in the 10km open water in swimming at the event. Her swimming prowess was on full display as she shared the lead in the water with Vittoria Lopes.
The front pair showed their experience as they took a slightly different line towards the second buoy to that of the chasers. They went on to clock 18:15 for the 1500m and would emerge a full 31 seconds clear.
Lopes was swift through T1, gaining 10 seconds on Rueda. Then she was away.
The Brazilian athlete had a clear strategy in mind as she powered around the opening lap of the bike. She built a solid lead to Rueda who in turn sat isolated between the leader and chase group behind.
A pack of six athletes soon caught Rueda, including her teammate Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal, the 2023 Americas champion. Luisa Baptista and Djenyfer Arnold were also in the group and took up the task of chasing down their compatriot Lopes. Over the subsequent laps, the chase group continued to grow.
Erica Hawley, Diana Castillo and Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto made their way into the pack, as did Erica Ackerlund, Dominika Jamnicky and Mercedes Romero Orozco.
Some impressive turns by Junior athletes Zoe Adam and Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza, the South American Junior champion, saw them make it to the chase group too. A considerable collection of talent was thus arrayed against Lopes.
Lopes, though, did not back down.
She continued to power through the 40km and defend the substantial advantage she had constructed. Towards the end of the bike, Velasquez, Rueda and Jamnicky pulled some large turns to help slash the lead down to under 40 seconds; earlier on in the bike it had been almost double that.
Nevertheless, Lopes made it onto the run with her lead standing at over 30 seconds.
From the first steps out of T2, Rueda and Tapia looking comfortable. The Canadian pair of Emy Legault and Jamnicky also moved smoothly through the first kilometre.
Before long, a trio of Velasquez, Rueda and Tapia separated themselves and gradually wore down Lopes. They passed their Brazilian rival on the second lap and turned their attentions to the gold.
Hawley and Jamnicky also hunted down Lopes but the medals had already escaped up the road. With a devastating surge on the third lap, Rueda broke clear. She opened a clear lead and Tapia fell behind Velasquez.
Tapia had won silver medal at WTCS Yokohama while Velasquez had finished 10th on debut at WTCS Montreal and won several Americas Cup races earlier in the year. They were both big threats and could have come back at Rueda.
However Rueda completely shut the door on any possible comeback. She flew to the line, winning by 21 seconds.
Velasquez crossed next to take the silver medal while Tapia added the bronze medal to a fantastic season. Hawley then took 4th place ahead of Jamnicky to complete the top-5.
Men’s race
Diego Moya absorbed the home cheers as he made his way to start line. A World Cup medallist on Chilean soil a year prior, Moya had shown before that he could step up before his compatriots.
He channelled the support to good effect as he led out the swim in 17:41. Chase McQueen emerged 4 seconds back with Seth Rider another 4 seconds back. With the next men almost 30 seconds back of Rider, a similar situation to the women’s race was on the cards.
The story of the men’s bike, though, was Chase McQueen.
The front three stuck together and worked well initially. However they were soon caught. Then, with a superb effort, McQueen opened a lead of 40 seconds with a bold attack on the final lap.
Moya had already tried his luck off the front once the front three had been caught. McQueen’s move, though, was something different altogether and he barely looked back.
Once in T2, he had a handy lead, although plenty of rivals were gathered behind to shut down the gap.
After a stumble on the beach run into the swim, Miguel Hidalgo had not had the best of starts in the race. He arrived in Chile after enjoying a fantastic end to his WTCS season and having won the Brasilia World Cup two weeks prior.
Hidalgo exited the water right on feet of Matthew McElroy, who had won the Tongyeong World Cup in October 2022, and together they injected the crucial momentum into the chase pack as they caught the lead three.
Once onto the run, Hidalgo and McElroy took charge of the task of hunting down McQueen.
Moya hung with the chasing duo, as did Crisanto Grajales, the winner of the Weihai World Cup. By the end of the first lap, they had caught McQueen whose efforts had come to naught.
Rider, Gaspar Riveros and Martin Sobey worked their way up to the leaders soon after as McQueen fell away. Over the subsequent laps, though, Hidalgo, McElroy and Grajales separated themselves from their rivals.
With a lap to go, the three leaders had moved away from the rest but none could quite break the others. Neither Grajales nor Hidalgo could summon the long range attack that had served them so well in Weihai and Brasilia, respectively. With every half-burst and stolen glance, McElroy looked totally controlled.
It was not until the finish line came into view that they finally showed their hands.
Hidalgo and McElroy upped the tempo, eyeballing one another. Grajales tried to hang on but slipped back and it was Hidalgo that had the final gear.
The young Brazilian lunged ahead of McElroy in the final hundred metres to claim the gold medal. McElroy took the silver, his first international medal of the season, while Grajales secured the bronze medal.
Sobey and Rider then completed the top-5.
You can view the full results here.
