The 1996

Ibero-American Championships in Athletics The Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') is a biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition for athletes representing Ibero-American countries as well as a number of other Spanish lang ...

(Spanish: ''VII Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') was the seventh edition of the international

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

competition between

Ibero-America Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese are predominant languages (usually form ...

n nations which was held at the Estadio Alfonso Galvis Duque in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

from 9–12 May..

CONSUDATLE Atletismo Sudamericano (''South American Athletics''), formerly CONSUDATLE (Spanish: Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo; ''South American Athletics Confederation''), is the continental confederation governing body of athletics for national ...

. Retrieved on 2012-01-04. The competition was held at an altitude of 1480 metres above sea level, which served to raise performances in most athletic events, bar the

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

contests. Eleven championships records were improved during the three-day competition which comprised 42 events; there were 22 men's events and 20 women's events (with equal programmes bar the men's

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

and

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

). Two

national records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as w ...

were broken at the event: Costa Rica's Alex Foster beat the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hur ...

record, while decathlon runner-up

Alejandro Cárdenas Alejandro Manuel Cárdenas Robles (born October 4, 1974) is a retired track & field athlete from Mexico. He is married to high jumper athlete Romary Rifka. Career After forming part of the Mexican 4 × 100 metres relay in the 1992 Summer Olympi ...

set a Mexican record of 7614 points. Cuba sent a full strength delegation and won almost half the events, taking twenty golds and 41 medals overall. Cuban gold medallists included

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

Javier Sotomayor Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born October 13, 1967) is a Cuban retired track and field athlete, who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic champion, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; hi ...

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

runners

Ana Fidelia Quirot Ana Fidelia Quirot Moré (; born March 23, 1963) is a former track and field athlete from Cuba, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 400 m. At 800 metres, she is a two-time World Champion (1995, 1997) and a two-time Oly ...

and

Norberto Téllez Norberto Téllez Santana (born January 22, 1972 in Rodas, Cienfuegos) is a retired Cuban runner. Career Originally a 400 metres runner who also enjoyed success in 4 x 400 metres relay, winning the silver medal at the 1992 Olympics, Téllez ...

, and hurdler

Anier García Anier Octavio García Ortiz (born March 9, 1976) is a Cuban track and field athlete, winner of the 110 metres hurdles at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Born in Santiago de Cuba, Anier García established his credentials early, by winning the 1995 Pan ...

. Boosted by the absence of Spain, Brazil came second in the medal tally, winning 31 medals in total – eight of which were gold. The hosts Colombia performed well in the long-distance events and women's sprints and ended the competition third overall with six golds in their haul of twenty medals.El Atletismo Ibero-Americano - San Fernando 2010
(pg. 142). RFEA. Retrieved on 2012-01-04. Chile's

Sebastián Keitel Sebastián Keitel Bianchi (born February 14, 1973, in Santiago) is a Chilean ex- sprinter who competed mostly in the 200 metres. He was coached by renowned Chilean coach Pedro Soto Acuña. Biography Sebastián Keitel comes from an athletics fa ...

was one of the foremost athletes at the event as he claimed a

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

double against Brazilian and Cuban opposition. His compatriot

Gert Weil Gert Michael Weil Wiesenborn (born January 3, 1960 in Puerto Montt) is a retired Chilean shot putter of German ancestry, who dominated the sport on the South American scene during the 1980s and early 1990s. His best performance at a global eve ...

won the fifth Ibero-American gold medal in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. María Eugenia Villamizar of Colombia won her second straight

hammer throw The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin. The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...

title in a championship record. Her team mate Felipa Palacios broke the women's 200 m record with her winning time of 22.93 seconds. The other record breakers were principally Cuban:

Yamilé Aldama Yamilé Aldama Pozo ( ar, جميلة الداما; born 14 August 1972) is a Cuban-born triple jumper. She represented Cuba until 2003, Sudan from 2004 to 2010, then Great Britain from 2011 onwards. A four-time Olympian (2000–12), she won a ...

improved the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

mark, Alberto Manzano set a new pole vault standard, while throwers Alberto Sánchez and Isbel Luaces beat the previous records in the hammer and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

, respectively. The closest contest of the competition was the women's

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

Julia Duporty Esther Julia "Daysi" Duporty Torres (born February 9, 1971 in Guantánamo) is a retired sprinter from Cuba, who competed at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1992. She set her personal best (50.61) in the women's 400 metres event o ...

edged

Ximena Restrepo Ximena Restrepo Gaviria (born March 10, 1969 in Medellín) is a former Colombian nationalized Chilean sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. With the time of 49.64 seconds she won a bronze medal in 400 metres at the 1992 Olympic Games, ...

by three hundredths of a second. Restrepo later took the Colombian women to the gold in the

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

, while Duporty's Cuban team were disqualified.

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

*^†Note: The medal count from the 2010 Ibero-American Championships report is incorrect as it did not include the shared high jump bronze medals of the Dominican Republic's

Juana Arrendel Juana Rosario Arrendel (born 16 June 1978 in La Romana) is a female high jumper from the Dominican Republic. Arrendel originally won the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, but lost the gold medal after testing positive for stanozolol. In 2006, ...

and Marcos dos Santos of Brazil.

Participation

Out of the 23 members of the

Asociación Iberoamericana de Atletismo The Asociación Iberoamericana de Atletismo (AIA; ''Iberoamerican Athletics Association'') is the governing body for the sport of athletics of European, Latinamerican, and African countries with iberian origin and/or Spanish or Portuguese languag ...

at that point in time, 19 nations sent delegations to the championships. The most notable absences were Spain and Uruguay. Despite the fact that the competition was held in the Americas, Nicaragua and Honduras did not send teams.El Atletismo Ibero-Americano - San Fernando 2010
(pg. 214). RFEA. Retrieved on 2012-01-04. * (1) * (22) * (5) * (60) * (10) * (56) * (9) * (65) * (9) * (2) * (9) * (37) * (2) * (1) * (7) * (10) * (25) * (1) * (8)

References

;Results

GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2012-01-04.
El Atletismo Ibero-Americano - San Fernando 2010
(pgs. 141-150). RFEA. Retrieved on 2012-01-04. {{Ibero-American Championships Ibero-American Championships in Athletics Ibero-American Championships 1996 in Colombian sport International athletics competitions hosted by Colombia Sport in Medellín May 1996 sports events in South America