Vinicius Rocha Moraes of Brazil at the 2016 South American Youth Championships (© Oscar Muñoz)
Brazilian sprinter Vinícius Rocha Morães produced the best performances of 23rd edition of the South American Youth Championships, which took place in Concordia, Province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, on 12-13 November.
Competing at the brand new track of the 'Centro de Desarrollo Deportivo' in this eastern Argentinean city, Rocha Morães took the 100-200m double in 10.36 (1.2m/s) and 21.41 (-3.9m/s). The former was a personal best and championship record for Rocha Morães, who reached the 200m semifinals of the IAAF World U20 Championships Bydgoszcz 2016.
Chilean Dayna Toledo set a South American U18 record in the girls' shot put, reaching 17.24m with the 3kg implement, bettering the 16.82m mark set by Brazilian Izabela da Silva in 2012.
An interesting duel emerged in the boys' discus, where Brazilian Saymon Hoffman and Chilean Claudio Romero improved the championship record. Hoffman won with 60.92m to Romero’s 60.49m. The old mark belonged to Brazilian Felipe Lorenzon with 58.74m since 2010.
Romero will be among the best South American athletes, those born in 2000 and beyond, who will compete at the IAAF World U18 Championships Nairobi 2017 next July.
Another standout was Brazilian sprinter Lorraine Martins, who won the 100m in 11.78 (0.5m/s) and finished third at 200m with 24.98 (-2.2m/s), behind Ecuadorian Romina Cifuentes (24.44) and Brazilian Gabriela Mourão (24.90).
Ecuador’s Marcos Morley broke the championship record in the boys' 110m hurdles with 13.55 (0.4m/s), while Colombian jumpers produced the same in the long and high jumps. Yuly Quinto leaped to 6.13m (-1.5m/s) and María Fernanda Murillo topped 1.85m, barely missing the South American U20 record with one of her attempts at 1.90m.
Brazil topped the medal table with 36 (19 gold, nine silver and eight bronze), ahead of Ecuador with 11 (six, two and three) and Colombia with 20 (five, seven and eight). The Brazilians also won the points classification with 310 (179 boys, 131 girls), leaving Chile second with 188.5 (116.5 and 72) and Argentina third with 161 (91 and 70).
Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF
