One week after the Americas Championships over the Olympic distance were held in Mexico, the athletes will contest the Americas Sprint Championships. Santa Marta, Colombia, will play host to the second championship event of the month.
Looking to upgrade their silver and bronze medals from last weekend will be Gina Sereno and Emy Legault.
Sereno is the sole American woman starting and won silver in Veracruz. She launched a bold attack with the finish line in sight but was ultimately denied by Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal. This weekend, though, Tapia will not be racing. Nor for that matter will Anahi Alvarez Corral, the fastest runner in Veracruz.
In the absence of Tapia and Alvarez, Ana Maria Valentina Torres Gomez could be Mexico’s best bet for a medal.
As a World Cup medallist, Sereno will favour her chances. Similarly, Legault will attempt to kick on after winning the bronze medal in Veracruz. That matched her performance from the equivalent event in 2022 and stands as the high point of her season so far.
This year, Legault has had a slightly challenging season. She recorded finishes of 40th at WTCS Yokohama, WTCS Montreal and the Paris Test Event. Like Sereno, though, she was a World Cup medallist last year. She also finished 10th at WTCS Hamburg and 12th at WTCS Montreal in 2022. As such, she certainly has the capacity to put in a few big performances this autumn.
Leslie Amat Alvarez of Cuba is one of the more experienced athletes in the field and could sneak a medal. A bronze at the Americas Cup in Salinas stands as her only individual medal in 2023, however she has also not finished outside of the top-10 at a race this year. As a strong swimmer, Amat may be best served pushing the pace early on and trying to force a breakaway. From there, she can fall back onto her cycling strength.
Raquel Solis Guerrero of Costa Rica also arrives in Santa Marta with an Americas Cup medal to her name. She took bronze in Chinchiná.
The Chilean trio of Macarena Salazar, Catalina Salazar and Dominga Elena Jacome Espinoza should be in the mix. Overall, though, the race looks like it will come down to a battle between Sereno and Legault.
On the men’s side, home favourites Ramón Armando Matute and Juan Jose Andrade Figueroa will look to impress.
Matute won the South American Championships over the Sprint distance in Lima and has plenty of speed over the 5km run. To go with that, he also won in Salinas earlier in the season. Meanwhile, Andrade last won an individual international race at the end of 2022 but has the skillset to trouble Matute.
None of the Senior male medallists from Veracruz will be starting. In their absence, Rodrigo Gonzalez will be wearing number 1. One of the oldest men starting, Rodriguez has won multiple World Cups over an illustrious career. All things considered, his record is probably the most impressive on the start list.
If Gonzalez is with the leaders out of T2, he will be hard to beat on the run.
One man that will hope to prevent Gonzalez from making the front pack will be Chase McQueen. The American is one of the quickest swimmers in the field and will look to break up the race early on.
Intriguingly, he will be joined by three athletes that raced for America at the World Junior Championships. Reese Vannerson, Luke Anthony and Carter Stuhlmacher have all elected to take on the Senior race in Santa Marta as opposed to the Junior event. Vannerson and Anthony are tremendous runners and could prove to be dark horses for the win.
Stuhlmacher is also in the conversation for being the best swimmer at the event. His running speed should also not be disregarded. If he can get into a breakaway, he could be the one to nail a spot on the podium.
From the Canadian team, Liam Donnelly will be a challenger after winning consecutive bronze medals at the Americas Cups in Montreal and Long Beach. His running is his forte and the Sprint distance suits him well.
Matthew Wright and Tyler Smith will also fly the flags for Barbados and Bermuda, respectively. After sterling seasons, both will look to cap their year with a championship medal.
