Thursday, November 2nd.- There was no better way to close the day in athletics at the Estadio Nacional on Thursday than the performances of the 4x100 relay teams, both for female and male at Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. 


In the female's event, Cuba's victory was overshadowed by the ecstasy generated by Chile's silver, igniting the enthusiasm of the local crowd. In the male's relay, all eyes were on the young Renan Correa, who, with a spectacular finish, secured the gold medal for Brazil. 


The 19-year-old athlete celebrated twice in less than an hour on the Chilean track, as he had won the 200 meters earlier, beating the Dominican José González. 


This time, alongside Rodrigo do Nascimento, Felipe Bardi, and Erik Carrasco, they comfortably defeated Cuba (Reynaldo Espinosa, Edel Amores, Yaniel Carrero, and Shainer Rengifo), who clocked a time of 39.26 seconds, and Argentina (Tomás Mondino, Bautista Diamante, Juan Ignacio Ciampitti, and Franco Florio), with 39.48 seconds. 


The presence of the Argentinian team on the podium was a possibility, given their fourth-place finish in the semifinals, but it was confirmed after the withdrawal of the United States. 


Renan Correa solidifies his status as Brazil's new hope in sprinting with this second victory at Santiago 2023. The native of Maringá adds these achievements to the South American U20 record he set in Cuiabá (20.12 seconds), his gold in the 100 meters at the Youth South American Championships in Bogotá 2023, and the semifinals he reached in the recent Budapest World Championships. 


In the junior event in Colombia, he also clocked a time of 10.01 seconds for the 100 meters, just one-hundredth below the Brazilian record set by Robson da Silva 36 years ago. Renan Correa is a name to watch, and it will be interesting to see what he can achieve if he qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympics. 


Written by Felipe Hurtado H.; translated by Andrés Castro / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Ph: Alejandro Pagni / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport