Golden day for Mexico at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, with Lizeth Rueda delivering a running master class to claim Gold 12 years after her debut at the Pan Am Games, she clocked 1:57:07, her teammate Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal rounded a great day for Mexico with the Bronze Medal, with a time of 1:57:52, while Colombia’s Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto crossed the finish line in second place clocking 1:57:28.
Fourth place was for a delighted Erica Hawley, a member of the World Triathlon Team, with one of her best result of her career so far, stopping the clock in a time of 1:58:18.
Tyler Smith
A powerful sprint finish crowned Brazil’s Miguel Hidalgo as the 2023 Pan American champion, in a tactical battle that saw the young Brazilian crossing the finish line just inches ahead of USA’s Matthew McElroy and Mexico’s Crisanto Grajales.
Three athletes came out of the water first, behind the leading trio, Tyler Smith was leading the chasers, but by the time they were out of the water, the difference with the three men ahead of the race was more than 30 seconds.
Eventually Smith finished 7th with a time of 1:47:02.