Sunday, November 5th, 2023.- Leading up to the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, calculations were being made about the Olympic gold medalists who were going to be part of the Chilean event, and one of them was the Colombian Mariana Pajón.

The cyclist is one of the world's BMX stars, and her track record speaks for itself, as she was the champion at London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016, and won silver at Tokyo 2020.

At Santiago 2023, the “Queen of BMX” did not disappoint, as she crowned herself as the champion at Parque Peñalolén with a time of 34.400.

"I am very happy. Truly, this is incredible because the task was accomplished after a long day of competition. For me, being back at the Pan American Games is very important," said Pajón after her success.

Mariana Pajón then mentioned, "I wanted to come to Santiago, and I prepared for this, even though the battle for the medal was not easy."

In the Female's BMX Racing competition at Santiago 2023, she was followed by the Canadian Molly Gwen Simpson (silver medalist with a time of 36.000) and another Colombian, Gabriela Bolle Carrillo (who secured the bronze medal with a time of 36.500).

In this way, Mariana Pajón adds her third Pan American gold medal to her illustrious track record, following the ones she won at Guadalajara 2011 and Lima 2019.

Written by Carlos Silva Rojas; translated by Rocio Rojas / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Sebastián Cisternas / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport