Saturday 4th November 2023.- A remarkable sprint in the final stretch allowed Cuban athlete Sahily Diago to overtake her compatriot and favorite Rose Mary Almanza, securing the gold medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.

In a Estadio Nacional filled with 40,000 spectators, Diago executed her strategy perfectly, launching her attack from the beginning against Almanza, who had won silver in Lima 2019, and kept the pace until the closing moments, where she unleashed her sprint in the last 70 meters.

Almanza couldn't withstand the surge from her teammate, nor that of Uruguayan athlete Déborah Rodríguez, who had won bronze four years ago in the Peruvian capital and secured second place with her spectacular sprint.

Diago clocked in at 2'02''71, while Rodríguez finished in 2'02''88, and Almanza in 2'03''68.

Brazilian athlete Jaqueline Weber came in fourth (2'04''99), Chilean Berdine Castillo finished fifth (2'05''37), American athletes Brooke Feldmeier and Brenna Detra were sixth and seventh (2'06''10 and 2'07''27), and Canadian Addy Townsend was the last to cross the finish line (2'09''02).

Diago's gold medal allows her country to match the six gold medals that Brazil has achieved in athletics at Santiago 2023, thus sharing the lead in that specific medal standings.

Written by Felipe Hurtado H; translated by Rocio Rojas / Photosport
Photo by Karin Pozo/Santiago 2023 / Photosport