News

Enriquez, Lopez retain titles as Colombia sweeps individual golds at South American Games

26 September 2026

Rosario (Argentina)

Real name:

Colombia swept all four individual titles at the XIII South American Games Santa Fe 2026, with Jorge Enriquez and Sara Lopez successfully defending their gold medals.

The closest finish came in the recurve men’s final, where Enriquez edged world number one Marcus D’Almeida in a rare double shoot-off after a tense contest.

D’Almeida, who had earlier partnered with Ana Luiza Sliachticas Caetano to win recurve mixed team gold with a 6-0 victory over Argentina, started strongly in the individual final, taking the opening set 27-23 before Enriquez fought back to level the match.

The two remained neck and neck, with D’Almeida’s 29 in the final set levelling the match at 5-5 and forcing a shoot-off.

Both archers shot a nine in the first tiebreak, but the arrows were too close to determine a winner, forcing a second shoot-off.

Once again, both shot nines, but Enriquez’s arrow landed closer to the centre to secure the gold.

“It was the first time I’d seen a tie like that,” D’Almeida said in an interview with Time Brasil. “It’s very, very, very rare because they measure it with a calliper, so even a one-millimetre difference decides the winner.”

Brazil’s Matheus Zwick Ely took bronze after defeating Chile’s Ángel Moises Vega Valdivia 6-2.

In the recurve women’s final, Colombia’s Ana Maria Rendon denied defending champion Ane Marcelle Dos Santos a second consecutive title with a clear 6-0 victory.

Argentina’s Alma Fiorella Pueyo Lopez gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about, defeating Brazil’s Isabelle Trindade Estevez in straight sets for bronze.

Colombia’s strong showing continued in compound, with Pablo Gomez Zuluaga and Sara Lopez adding mixed team gold before claiming their individual titles.

The pair teamed up to defeat Brazil’s Bianca Rodrigues and Jairo Rodrigo Da Silva 153-151, while Argentina took bronze after edging Venezuela 19-18 in a shoot-off following a 153-153 tie.

World number seven Gomez Zuluaga, who won his first individual Hyundai Archery World Cup title in Madrid earlier this season, defeated compatriot Sebastian Arenas 147-145 in the compound men’s final.

Gomez Zuluaga stayed composed in the closing stages to secure gold, while teammate Jagdeep Singh Mejia completed the podium with a 145-144 win over Da Silva.

In the compound women’s final, defending champion Lopez opened with a one-point lead before Alejandra Usquiano briefly moved ahead after the second set.

Lopez responded with a perfect 30 in the third to regain the advantage and held on to beat her compatriot 146-143 and retain her title.

“Before going to the target for this match, I told my coach, ‘The goal is to do it well, to feel good,” Lopez told Deporte Colombiano. “It doesn’t matter what happens, it doesn’t matter the number, I want to feel good,’ and I felt good.”

Colombia repeated its compound women’s individual podium sweep from Asunción 2022, with Mariana Rodriguez defeating Venezuela’s Ana Mendoza 145-142 for bronze.

Images courtesy of World Archery Americas.