The Colombian cyclist Mariana Pajón, triple Olympic medalist, confirmed her class and conquered this July 1 the women’s BMX of the XIX Bolivarian Games, which are held in Valledupar, Colombia.
Pajón, runner-up under the five rings in Tokyo 2020 and gold in London 2012 and Rio 2016, beat Ecuadorian Doménica Azuero and Doménica Mora, silver and bronze medalists, respectively, in the final.
The 30-year-old Colombian dominated the three heats with authority against six riders from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru, despite competing with an injured right hand.
I am completely happy because a few days ago I thought I was not going to make it. As much as I have run the Bolivarian Games since 2005, it is still too special. The truth is that I had to fight a lot to be here, so it’s very special, Pajón affirmed after her victory.
With this crown, Pajón added her eighth gold medal in the Bolivarian Games, seven of them in BMX and one in track cycling. She won the first medal in Pereira 2005, while in the last edition, Santa Marta 2017, she added three.
In the men’s event, the title went to Colombian Diego Arboleda, who had a perfect round in his heat and ran strong in the final to deliver a new gold metal to his country.
We achieved the goal. I kept it cool in the splitter and just wanted to enjoy that last lap. Things were given to me on the track and we met the goal we had, said Arboleda after beating bikers from eight countries.
The silver medal went to the Venezuelan Jholman Sivira and the bronze, to the Chilean Hernán Godoy.