Tonina leads Argentina’s individual push
In the afternoon session, Argentina’s Tonina emerged as one of the defining figures of the competition.
The top seed after qualification, Tonina dominated the individual recurve men’s event, defeating Barbieri 6–0 in an all-Argentine semifinal before repeating the scoreline against Brazil’s Lucas De Oliveira Silva in the final. Nicolas Gómez Meneses secured bronze for Colombia.
The medal represented Tonina’s second gold of the tournament after winning mixed team earlier in the day, and he was one tiebreaker short of leaving with a third. (Colombia’s Juana Cardona Gaviria and Karina Arango also won three medals.)
The individual recurve women’s event delivered one of the day’s key shifts. Brazil’s Luiza Langone defeated top seed Chorvat, 6–2, in the final, overturning expectations after the Argentine had progressed comfortably through the earlier rounds. Juana Cardona Gaviria secured bronze for Colombia.
Colombia’s strength in compound was most evident in the men’s bracket, where Juan Felipe Gonzalez Correa and Jeronimo Agudelo Bedoya advanced to an all-Colombian final.
Gonzalez secured gold with a 144–139 victory, but Agudelo’s route to the final proved one of the most dramatic of the competition. Facing Ecuador’s Julian Josue Jumbo Rodriguez in the quarterfinals, the Colombian survived a 142–142 tie, winning a single-arrow shoot-off 10–9 after entering the bracket as the top seed with a 688 qualification score. Chile’s Oscar Omar Enrique Verdugo Viñales took bronze.
In the women’s compound event, Ecuador’s Dariana Isabel Heredia Sanchez delivered a composed performance to win gold, defeating Argentina’s Maria Belen Gimenez, 143–138, in the final. Heredia’s run included a 145–142 semifinal victory over top seed Arango, making the Colombian the only number one seed not to reach an individual final.
Arango rebounded to take bronze, defeating Tobon in an all-Colombian match.
“I’ve been working for a long time now, always making the extra effort for this moment, to represent my country and wear the Argentinian jersey,” Gimenez said. “I carry my country in my heart and in my blood, and this medal, even though it is not gold, represents a lot to me.”
Images courtesy of Juegos Suramericanos de la Juventud Panamá 2026.
