Saturday, Oct 21st.- The cyclists secured Chile's first medals in the Cross Country Olympic (XCO) format, held in San Carlos de Apoquindo. Martín Vidaurre, who was in excellent form, expressed his disappointment at not achieving his main goal of winning gold, while his sister Catalina surprised by taking second place, considering she had recently recovered from a lung illness.

Another notable performance came from Francisca Crovetto, who finished at the top of the initial rankings in the skeet discipline. The shooter still hopes to win her first Pan American gold medal, having already collected two silvers (Guadalajara 2011 and Lima 2019) and a bronze (Toronto 2015).

Cousins Esteban and Marcos Grimalt also got off to a strong start in their quest to defend the gold medal they won in beach volleyball at Lima 2019, defeating the Nicaraguan duo of Rubén Mora and Dani López. In the same discipline, Francisca Rivas and Chris Vorpahl had an impressive debut, defeating the Costa Rican pair of Kianny Araya and Angel Williams.

In rowing, twins Antonia and Melita Abraham advanced solidly to the Final A in the female's short pair. Antonia Zanetta and Magdalena Nanning also reached the grand final in the female's coxless pair, while Nahuel Reyes and Marcelo Poo finished second in the male's coxless pair and will have to compete in a repechage to secure qualification.

Team Chile is presenting its largest-ever delegation with 664 athletes, and the goal is to surpass the 13 gold medals and 50 total medals achieved at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.

Written by Marcelo Gonzáles; translated by Andrés Castro / Photosport
Photo: Javier Salvo / Santiago 2023 villa Photosport