Peruvian pedestrian Kimberly García León Source: SITA/AP/Moises Castillo
SANTIAGO – Peruvian walker Kimberly García León’s winning time in Sunday’s 20-kilometer race at the Pan American Games in Chile would normally have been a fantastic world record, but as it turned out, it definitely couldn’t be.
The track in the streets of Santiago was shorter by roughly three kilometers, as the organizers admitted. Even the winner and two-time world champion from last year’s championship in Eugene couldn’t believe it after crossing the finish line in 1:12:26. If only because such performance is more than four minutes better than the men’s maximum (1:16:36). The women’s world record is 1:23:49.
“We were aware of it from the first kilometer. The split time did not match the distance,” the media quoted 30-year-old García, who won both the 20 and 35 km races at the World Championships in Eugene last year. At the Pan American Games, she triumphed for the first time after silver in 2019.
Kimberly García León in the last three Pan American Games:
Toronto 2015 5th place
Lima 2019 silver medal
Santiago 2023 gold medal
It is the story of improvement and success of one of the best Peruvian athletes in history. pic.twitter.com/uPPBcDt6wu
— Dheys Rios Acosta (@DheysRioz) October 29, 2023
“We watch the pace very much and right after the start, in the first lap, we said to ourselves that it’s very fast. Faster than the men. We knew it was strange, so we tried not to look at the split times.” added Brazilian Viviane Santana, who finished fourth. Twelve female walkers recorded a time better than the world record.
García pointed out that she was not affected by the situation itself. “I (just) wanted the Pan American record. But the other girls here were fighting to be in the Olympics. It’s a shame because the weather and everything was favorable for good times. It was a serious mistake that I’ve never experienced.” added the fourth woman from the 20 km race at this year’s World Championships in Budapest, where she met the Olympic limit for the start in Paris.
They canceled the performance
According to the organizers of the Pan American Games, which are the largest multi-sport event on the American continent held once every four years, the error was caused by a professional hired to measure the competition tracks from the Pan American Athletic Association.
“He inaccurately measured the route that the athletes took during the race. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this caused to the athletes, their coaches, the public and the media. But the blame for this situation cannot be attributed to the organizing committee.” organizers said in a statement.
They canceled the performance from Santiago and only awarded medals. Silver to Glenda Morejónová from Ecuador and bronze to another Peruvian pedestrian, Evelyn Ingaová. The men’s race was delayed by an hour due to the situation and was won by Alexander Hurtado from Ecuador in 1:19.20.
Photo gallery for the article Number of photos: 6
Author: © List Source: CTK
2023-10-30 12:03:43
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