The 1996 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''VII Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') was the seventh edition of the international athletics competition between Ibero-American 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. 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). Two national records 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 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 runners Ana Fidelia Quirot and Norberto 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

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

s 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 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 María Eugenia Villamizar Amado (born 30 August 1970) is a retired Colombian athlete who specialised in the hammer throw. She dominated the event on regional level in the 1990s. Her personal best throw is 59.86 metres, set in Bogotá in 2002. ...

of Colombia won her second straight hammer throw title in a championship record. Her team mate

Felipa Palacios Felipa Alicia Palacios Hinestroza (born December 1, 1975 in Bojaya, Chocó) is a retired female track and field athlete from Colombia, who competed in the sprint events. Career She represented her native country in three consecutive Summer Oly ...

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 mark,

Alberto Manzano Alberto Manzano (born 22 September 1972) is a retired Cuban pole vaulter. His personal best jump was 5.45 metres, achieved in July 1990 in Havana. Career He won silver medals at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games and the 1993 and ...

set a new pole vault standard, while throwers Alberto Sánchez and

Isbel Luaces Isbel Luaces McKullock (born July 20, 1975, in Camagüey, Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Provinc ...

beat the previous records in the hammer and javelin throw, 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 ...

as Julia Duporty edged Ximena Restrepo 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 Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' * Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portug ...

of Brazil.

Participation

Out of the 23 members of the Asociación Iberoamericana de Atletismo 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 The Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: ''Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo'') is a biennial athletics competition for athletes representing Ibero-American countries as well as a number of other Spanish- or Portuguese-spea ...

1996 in Colombian sport International athletics competitions hosted by Colombia Sport in Medellín May 1996 sports events in South America