Up, Peru! Hugo Ruiz won the gold medal in Track Cycling in Santiago 2023.

After a great race, Ruiz Calle scored 125 points in the four competitions of the discipline, surpassing Mexican rider Ricardo Peña by just one unit, who won the silver medal. Chilean rider Jacob Decar, with 121 points, took the bronze medal and narrowly beat Colombian rider Juan Esteban Arango.

This Omnium event combines the points obtained in scratch, tempo, elimination, and points race, closing the first of the four days of track cycling in Santiago 2023. Note that this sport also awards points for the Olympic ranking for the Paris 2024 Games.

Prior to the start of the multisport event, the Peruvian Olympic Committee (COP) recognized the performance of national athletes and projected that the Peruvian delegation will win between 22 and 26 medals in this edition. "We project that between 150 and 170 national athletes will qualify for the next Pan American Games, which is estimated to add approximately 22 to 26 medals," said Renzo Manyari, president of the COP.

The emotion of winning the long-awaited gold medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games quickly showed on the face of Hugo Ruiz Calle, who stated that this achievement is the result of the great effort he made prior to his participation. "I am happy that we achieved the result in the end; it is the result of the effort I have been making for a long time," said the cyclist to the media.

Similarly, he expressed his pride in representing Peru and confirmed that he will compete in the road race on Sunday. "I am proud to represent my country, I always do it with a lot of effort and now we achieved the result," he asserted.

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