The South American Youth Games are a solid first step towards the Argentine Olympic dream

As with any sporting event in which young people (between 14 and 17 years old) participate, in Rosary 2022 the main focus is on educating and further engaging young athletes in the sport and inspiring new generations. But this third edition of South American Youth Games It is, after all, a high -performance competition, which for many will mark the first step on a path that will take them, perhaps, to the Olympic Games. High performance is results, so, when taking stock, medals are counted. And when it comes to results, the light blue and white delegation closed their participation in the city of Santa Fe with very positive sentiment.

Our country could not improve its position in the overall medal table in relation to the previous edition, which was held in Santiago de Chile in 2017. In that case, it finished third, behind Brazil Y Colombia. The Rosario 2022 classification showed a similar podium, with the national team again in the final step. Nor was the number of gold medals greater (38 in the Chilean event against 31 in Santa Fe), but the final harvest was larger (eleven medals). And in addition to confirming the high level of some sports in which Argentina has always been the main protagonist, there are other disciplines that have shown good growth and that are exciting for the future.

Cycling was one of the great “surprises” of Rosario 2022. He contributed three gold medals, two silver and one bronze and a historic 1-2-3 in the mixed time trial relay.

In that competition, the champions were crowned Fabrizio Crozzolo Y Juliet Benedetti (also silver in the Women’s Criterium). seconds left Matthew Duke Cano Y Eliana Tocha (winners of two golds in the male and female Criterium, respectively). and third parties, Alejo Betique Y April Garzon. Thus, our country is first in the overall classification of this sport, ahead of Colombia, the great continental power (0-1-0) and Brazil and Venezuela (0-0-1, each).

Artistic gymnastics added five golds, all in the women’s branch. Mia Mainnardithe most outstanding-only team, won three medals of that color on the floor, jump and individually around. isabella ajalla It was gold on the beam and uneven bars and brass on the floor and all around. Besides, nicole iribarne He kept jumping for the silver. And there was also silver in the team competition.

In the male branch there is money Faust Latella on the floor; and Latella brass in the bar, Thiago Ognibene on the pommel horse, Nahuel Pardo in the rings and on the team around.

Light blue and white athletics shone on the track municipal stadiumwhere he won six gold, eight silver and six bronze, to finish second behind Brazil, the dominator of this sport in the region, who finished with 12-3-8.

The giltheads came from the hands of Thomas Mondoniwho confirmed his status as a favorite in speed tests and won the 100 and 200 meters; Jose Riba at 3,000 meters; Giuliana Baigorria in throwing a hammer; Anelis Korniejczuk on the spear; Y Carolina Scarponi in the pole vault.

There was also an outstanding performance by Argentina’s tennis players, led by Luciana Moyano, one of the flag bearers at the opening ceremony. Cordovan won gold in the three trials he played: singles; feminine doubles with Luisina Giovannini, which is silver to the individual; and mixed doubles side by side Lautaro Midonalso second in men’s singles.

Team sports fulfilled the expectations they always form in the face of this type of event. Selected from hockey 5 they climbed to the top of the podium on both branches. The women’s group basketball 3×3 won gold and the men, plus Nicholas Chiaraviglio, who carried the flag at the inauguration with Moyano, the silver. Within rugby 7, she won gold in the men’s tournament and silver in the women’s. The men’s group of futsal also added silver.

And the boys from beach handball confirmed the great growth of the sport, which was a sensation in its debut at the Youth Olympic Games last year Buenos Aires 2018and won two golds.

The swim had a smaller yield than Santiago 2017. From occupying second place on the medal table in that event, with five gold, six silver and five bronze, behind Brazil (22-14- 10); finished fifth with two golds (of Dante Nicholas at 50 and 100 chest), one silver and 12 bronze. He was overtaken by the Brazilian team, Colombia, Venezuela and Chile.

And boxing, a discipline that tends to feed Argentina many medals, won two golds (Himala Quiquinte in the 54-57 kilos category and Daniela Herrera at 57-60 kilograms), one silver and four bronze.

Ang climbing and the skatethat all the rage at last year’s Olympic event in Tokyo, also contributed their part, with a silver Zoe Garcia in the bouldering of women and another ailin arzua on the Street, respectively.

Argentina’s other medals came from badminton (two bronze), fencing (two bronze), judo (four bronze), karate (1-2-1), weightlifting (0-1-4), wrestling (0- 2-3), figure skating (2-1-0), speed skating (0-0-2), taekwondo (1-0-3), archery (one bronze), duathlon (two bronzes) and beach volleyball (a bronze). The only discipline in the Games program where Argentina failed to reach the podium was table tennis.

Thus, our country came third in the medal table with 31 gold, 28 silver and 54 bronze. Brazil preceded, as in the previous two editions, with 64 gold, 40 silver and 43 bronze. And Colombia, second, with 34, 32 and 26.

One oddity: the girls of the delegation contributed more than half of the national medals. Of the 113 covered, 62 were in the women’s events (19 gold, 17 silver and 26 bronze). In the men’s, 45 were achieved and the remaining six came in mixed competition.

“Sportingly speaking, Argentina was the protagonist; we are very good, although one would always want to be a little better. But at this age, the central axis is not set in the result, it is important to see where we start. Building the road towards high performance We know that in the sports teams we lead, we have natural quality, but in individual sports we need to continue to grow ”, he analyzed. Mario Mocciapresident of the Argentine Olympic Committee, in the last days of the competition in Rosario.

“We don’t live with pending medals, but they reflect the work. These kids have shown a level that is supernatural and we need to follow up to be able to project them. We know there are young people who are. remains, but the idea ‘Those who reach the elite of their sports in good standing,” he added.

In future projecting, this generation of athletes under the age of 18 will be the basis for those who will compete in the 2032 Los Angeles Olympic Games. And the results of Rosario 2022 clarified that there are sports where more work still needs to be done, but that Overall, Argentina’s sport is on a very good path.