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Home hero Andres Aguilar clinches first individual continental title in 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, held alongside the second leg of the 2026 Grand Prix of the Americas in Santiago, Chile.

Aguilar, winner of the opening Grand Prix of the Americas leg in San Salvador last month, outplayed Ecuador’s Juan Pablo Peralta Alvarez 6-0 to secure recurve men’s gold.

The world number 58 dominated throughout the elimination rounds, with the only exception a narrow 6-5 semifinal victory over fellow Chilean Andres Gallardo.

Top seed Gallardo settled for bronze after a 7-1 win over Ángel Moises Vega Valdivia, repeating his result from the Medellin 2025 South American Championships.

Both Aguilar and Gallardo – members of Chile’s gold medal-winning team at the Marica 2024 South American Championships – once again guided the host nation to recurve men’s team gold.

They will return to action on Saturday in the bronze medal match at the Grand Prix.

The recurve women’s final was an all-Brazilian affair, with second seed Graziela Paulino dos Santos defeating top seed Ana Clara Dias De Carvalho Machado 7-1.

The result mirrored the world ranking event in Bolivia in 2018, when dos Santos also secured her first individual international title.

Machado later teamed up with Mateus Carvalho to help Brazil defeat Chile in straight sets and win recurve mixed team gold.

The compound competitions produced a couple of surprises as experienced archers climbed to the top of the podium.

Brazil’s Rogerio Ambrosio De Lima, now in his 50s, showed he still has plenty left to offer, claiming the first individual continental title of a career spanning more than 15 years.

De Lima held his nerve in the final two sets to defeat Ecuador’s top seed Mateo Sebastian Oleas Rodriguez 145-139.

Another standout performance came from Peru’s world number 689 Beatriz Aliaga Hurtado, who secured compound women’s gold with a 145-139 victory over Brazil’s Larissa Aparecida Ferrari Oliveira.

Aliaga Hurtado had previously won the title at the 2024 South American Championships, and Friday’s victory in Santiago delivered only the second individual medal of her career.

Ecuadorian teenager Blanca Maritza Rodrigo Bueno, who grabbed the headlines during qualification, failed to reach the podium after losing the bronze medal match to Chile’s 18-year-old Aurora Olea Prado in a tiebreak.

Olea Prado later teamed up with Alejandro Patricio Martin Arriagada to edge Ecuador 156-153 and win compound mixed team gold.

Rodrigo Bueno will, however, return on Saturday for the Grand Prix of the Americas final, where she will face Aliaga Hurtado.