By Steve Keating
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – It was a deja vu double celebration for Chile at the Pan American Games on Wednesday as Martina Weil powered to women’s 400 metre gold and the men’s soccer team took a 1-0 win from the United States.
If that sounds familiar it is because only a night earlier, on Tuesday, Santiago Adolfo Ford had the home crowd on its feet roaring decathlon gold as the women’s soccer team was advancing to the gold medal final, also at the expense of the United States.
The gold on back-to-back nights at the Estadio Nacional, where the 1962 World Cup final was played, were joyous achievements but it is a double opportunity at soccer gold that really has Chilean hearts pounding.
The Chilean men have never won Pan Am Games gold and only once before, in 1987, appeared in the final losing to Brazil while the women have never before got to the semi-finals.
Cesar Perez’s 57th minute strike was enough to see the hosts through to Saturday’s final as the Americans failed to register a shot on target the entire match.
Chile’s win setup a rematch of the 1987 final against Brazil, who advanced with 1-0 win over Mexico.
The Chilean women will face Mexico for gold on Friday.
What it means is a few emotional days ahead as the soccer-mad country dreams of the ultimate golden finish to the Games that no doubt would ease some of the sting of being left out of FIFA plans to host 2030 World Cup soccer matches.
Chile had made a joint bid alongside Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to stage the opening games in 2030 but was the only one of those countries not to be given a match.
Co-hosts Spain, Portugal and Morocco will stage the majority of the tournament and the South American countries will host one game each.
Once coached by her mother, who was the 400m bronze medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Weil charged through an evening drizzle to clock a winning time of 51.48 seconds.
Brazil’s Lucas Conceicao came home first in the men’s 400m while the United States Deanna Price won the women’s hammer throw adding Pan Am gold to her 2019 world champion title.
Andrea Vargas gave Costa Rica their first gold of the Games successfully defending her 2019 Pan Am title in the 100m hurdles while Brazil’s Eduardo Rodrigues won the men’s.
Led by double Olympic champion McLain Ward the U.S. won the equestrian team jumping gold ahead of Canada and Brazil.
With the win the Americans secured their Paris Olympics spot along with silver medalists Canada and fourth place finishers Mexico.
Bronze medallist Brazil had already qualified for a Paris quota spot.
In fencing, the United States Andrew Doddo beat Venezuela’s Eliecer Jose Parra 15-11 to win the men’s sabre while Argentina’s Clara Isabel Di Tella won the women’s epee.
The women’s squash singles battle for gold was an all-American showdown with Olivia Fiechter taking top spot over Amanda Sobhy
Peru’s Diego Elias won the men’s singles 3-1 over Colombia’s Miguel Angel Rodriguez.
The U.S. cleaned up on the wrestling mat sweeping all four freestyle gold on offer, with Tyler Berger winning the men’s 74 kilogram, Zane Richards 57kg, Mason Parris 125kg, Kyle Snyder 97kg.
With the help of the wrestlers the U.S. improved their gold medal haul to 84 and 191 total medals.
Brazil sits second on 40 gold and 136 overall followed by Canada with 35 and 116.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Santiago; Editing by Robert Birsel)
