Lucirio Garrido finished with an unprecedented double in the South American Championship

Venezuela finishes South American athletics with eight gold medals

GERARDO BLANCO | CARACAS Lucirio Garrido completed the best performance of a half-Venezuelan Zionist in the history of the South American athletics championships get the double at 1500 and 800 meters flat, after winning the second test from yesterday on the last day of the event Lima Peru.

The feat of Garrido It started on Friday, when he won the 1500m with a time of 3: 55.04, far from the national record held by Eduard Villanueva (3: 36.96) established in the Daegu WorldSouth Korea in 2011 and the minimum score of 3: 35.00 required by the IAAF to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics; but enough to climb to the top of the podium to defeat Argentina's Diego Lacamore (3: 55.15) and Brazil's Santos De Oliveira (3: 55.18).

The Guaricion also yesterday imposed the pace of the 800 that he defeated with a time of 1: 46.27 to relegate the Colombian Jelsin Robledo (1: 47.31) and the Peruvian Marco Antonio Vilca (1: 48,06). The record did not help him to break the national record of William Wuycke (1: 43.54) established at Rieti, Italy in 2011 or enter Tokyo with the minimum (1: 45.20). However, both titles ranked him Doha World Cup, Qatar.

With this victory, he also became the third Venezuelan to obtain the gilthead seabream in the 800m, after Leslie Mentor (Rio de Janeiro 1965) and Héctor López (Santiago 1974), and is the only one to master both tests in the same edition of South American Championship. Ahymara Espinoza She also entered the record books as the first weight-thrower to win gold in this event, when she won with a 17.44-meter boost to the Brazilian. Geisa Rafaela (17,16) and the Colombian Ángela Rivas (17.10).

The eighth gold medal of Venezuela was conquered by the heptatlonista Luisarys Toledo with 5,989 points to break the national record of 5,928 units that it established last April at USA

The national delegation has collected 8 gold medals by Garrido, Espinoza, Toledo, Robeilys Peinado (garrocha), Genesis Romero (100 with hurdles), Georny Jaramillo (decathlon) and the men's 4 × 100 relay; two silver by Andrea Purica in 100 and 200 and bronze by Eure Yánez (high jump).