Brazilian sprinter Ana Azevedo in the 60m (© AFP / Getty Images)
Ana Azevedo was one of the leading performers at the South American Indoor Championships in Cochabamba, which concluded on Sunday (23) after two days of action.
Brazilian athletes won 14 of the 26 titles on offer in the Bolivian capital, while championship records tumbled in nine disciplines, six of which were set by Brazilian winners. Azevedo’s triumph was one such triumph.
The Pan-American bronze medallist produced a lifetime best of 7.16 to take gold in a championship record. Colombia’s Marlet Ospino equalled her own national record of 7.22 to take silver, also inside the previous championship record.
Having made his indoor debut just two days prior, Colombia’s Neiker Abello took the men’s 60m title in 6.60.
The men’s 60m hurdles produced the closest finish of the weekend. Brazil’s Eduardo de Deus and Thiago dos Santos were almost inseparable as they crossed the line. They were both credited with the same time, 7.67, with De Deus being awarded victory by the slender margin of 0.005.
Regiclecia Da Silva entered the championships with a triple jump PB of 13.73m and having never competed indoors before. She set an outright PB of 13.85m with her first jump, then went on to improve to 14.00m and then 14.17m in the final round, taking gold with a Brazilian indoor record and a championship record.
Championship records also fell in the women’s long jump, won by Colombia’s Natalia Linares with 6.64m, the women’s pole vault, won by Brazil’s Beatriz Chagas (4.25m) and the pentathlon, won by Brazil’s Tamara de Souza (4294).
Four middle-distance championship records were also broken. Brazilian duo Leonardo Santos (1:49.94) and Thiago Andre (3:50.09) took the men’s 800m and 1500m titles, while Peru’s Anita Poma (4:23.74) and Bolivia’s Benita Parra (9:43.90) established record performances with their 1500m and 3000m triumphs.