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Home hero Aguilar clinches first individual continental title at Santiago

22 May 2026

Santiago, Chile

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Local star Andres Aguilar made the most of home conditions and his excellent form to claim his first individual continental title at the South American Championships, being held alongside the second leg of the 2026 Grand Prix of the Americas, in Santiago, Chile.

Aguilar, winner at last month’s first leg of the Grand Prix of the Americas at San Salvador, outplayed Ecuador's Juan Pablo Peralta Alvarez 6-0 for the recurve men's gold medal. The 58th-ranked Aguilar displayed complete domination across the elimination rounds – the only exception a narrow 6-5 semi-final win over Andres Gallardo.

Top seed and another local favourite Gallardo settled for the bronze after a 7-1 win over fellow archer Ángel Moises Vega Valdivia, repeating the result of Medellin 2025 South American Championships.

Both Aguilar and Gallardo — who were part of Chile’s gold medal winning team at Marica 2024 South American Championships – yet again guided the home team to men's team gold medal. They will once again be in action on Saturday fighting for the bronze medal at the Santiago 2026 Grand Prix of the Americas.

The recurve women final was an all-Brazilian affair with second seed Graziela Paulino dos Santos thumping top seed Ana Clara Dias De Carvalho Machado 7-1. The result repeated the outcome of the World Ranking event in Bolivia back in 2018, when dos Santos also clinched her first individual title.

Machado later combined with Mateus Carvalho to help Brazil take the recurve mixed team gold 6-0 over Chile.

The compound results brought surprise with veterans reaching the top of the podiums. Brazil’s Rogerio Ambrosio De Lima, despite in his 50s, still showed the fire to claim his first ever individual title in a career spanning 15 years. De Lima kept his composure in the final two sets to beat Ecuador’s top seed Mateo Sebastian Oleas Rodriguez 145-139.

Another standout performance came from Peru’s world No. 689 Beatriz Aliaga Hurtado who clinched the compound women’s individual title win a 145-139 win over Brazil’s Larissa Aparecida Ferrari Oliveira.

Not to forget that Aliaga Hurtado was already a former champion at the Marica 2024 South American Championships. And the title at Santiago 2026 on Friday is her only second individual medal of her career.

Ecuador teenage archer Blanca Maritza Rodrigo Bueno, who grabbed the headlines during qualification rounds, failed to reach the podium after losing the bronze medal match to Chile's 18-year-old Aurora Olea Prado in a tie-breaker. Olea Prado later combined with Alejandro Patricio Martin Arriagada to pip Ecuador 156-153 for the compound mixed team gold medal.

Rodrigo Bueno will, however, compete at the Grand Prix of the Americas final against Aliaga Hurtado on Saturday.