Colombia’s sprint stars delivered the gold medals we all probably expected at the 2026 South American Games in Argentina.
Stefany Cuadrado won both the sprint and keirin titles at the brand new Invencible Velódromo in Rafaela, with the men’s golds shared between Cristian Ortega in keirin, and Kevin Quintero in sprint.
In the women’s keirin final, Cuadrado (in short sleeves) found herself on the front soon after the derny left the track, with Natalia Vera preferring to peel off and claim Cuadrado’s wheel instead.
She briefly surrendered the lead as fellow Colombian Juliana Gaviria moved up from the back; but she soon reclaimed it, steadily winding up the power with a lap and a half left.
Into the final lap, Cuadrado had opened up a gap of several lengths, with only Vera able to follow – but the win was never in doubt. Vera was clearly delighted with second in front of her home crowd, with Gaviria taking third.
The draw for the men’s final put the Colombians together at the back of the line. As they began their inevitable move upwards, Venezuela’s Andrés Torres tried to claim the front of the race, but couldn’t get ahead of Lucas Oscar Vilar. He decided instead to claim Vilar’s wheel; but with Juan Bautista Rodriguez refusing to give up his position on the inside, Torres swung upwards – forcing the two riders behind him, João Vitor Da Silva and Quintero to slow, effectively ending their medal hopes.
Ortega narrowly missed Torres as he made his way to the front, moving ahead of the Argentinian pair as the bell rang. He claimed the sprinters lane in the back straight, and was a comfortable winner ahead of Vilar, with Rodriguez holding off a late charge by Silva for bronze. Quintero sailed in, almost nine seconds back; Torres must have known he would be relegated.
Cuadrado’s double success further cements her position as the UCI’s top-ranked female sprinter – a position she surrendered briefly to Lea Sophie Friedrich earlier this month. Quintero and Ortega both sit comfortably in the men’s top ten after a very productive summer.
