Thursday, November 2nd, 2023.- Another example of the contribution of immigrants to Team Chile emerged in freestyle wrestling when Virginia Jiménez advanced to the bronze medal final in the 68kg category at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

Born in Venezuela, the wrestler moved to Chile six years ago and acquired Chilean nationality just two months ago, enabling her to compete for the host team. She mentioned, “I've been in Chile for six years. This is my first competition; I became a citizen two months ago. Now, I have a chance for the bronze, and I will fight to give my all for that medal,” after her victory over Honduran wrestler Saidy Chávez.

“I feel excited and moved to be back in competition. I waited six years for this. I know it's not a gold, but to me, the bronze will be like gold. I am very grateful to this country for welcoming me as a foreigner, to the wrestling team that treated me like family from day one. I feel a lot of gratitude for this country," she said with tears in her eyes after her performance at the Centro de Entrenamiento Olímpico.

Virginia Jiménez lost 11-0 to American wrestler Forrest Molinari in the quarterfinals but then defeated Honduran wrestler Chávez 3-0 in the repechage, which allowed her to compete for the bronze medal after 5:00 p.m. today against Venezuelan wrestler Nicoll Parrado.

In other results for Chilean athletes in the morning session, Eduardo Gajardo fell to Venezuelan wrestler Pedro Ceballos in the 86kg freestyle; Dafne Palacios was defeated by Betzabeth Sarco, also from Venezuela, in the 57kg category; and Diego Quispe lost to American wrestler Nahshon Garrett and Peruvian wrestler Sixto Auccapia in the 65kg category.

Written by Rodrigo Vargas; translated by Josefina Zamorano / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Eduardo Fortes / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport