Pride! 'Piccolo' Clemente and 'Mafer' Reyes won gold medals at the 2023 Pan American Games.

The waves have been part of their lives and today they showed that they are the best in America. Benoit 'Piccolo' Clemente and Maria Fernanda Reyes won their respective categories in the Longboard Surf modality, giving us two new gold medals in the Pan American Games Santiago 2023. With this, the Peruvian delegation has five gold medals in Chile, as well as one silver and twelve bronze medals.

Regarding Benoit, our compatriot had a great performance and beat the Chilean Rafael Cortez, dominating his heat from start to finish without any setbacks. Despite his rival having the support of the local fans, it was not enough to overcome him and take control of each of his waves.

'Piccolo' achieved a total score of 12.16, while his rival achieved a final score of 10.37. With these numbers, Clemente celebrated with the entire delegation and gave Peru its fourth gold medal in the Pan American Games Santiago 2023. In addition, he completed a back-to-back championship after winning the gold medal in Lima 2019.

Among the most notable achievements of our national surfer, in addition to the back-to-back victories in the last two Pan American Games, are the ISA World Team Championship in 2010, the WSL Longboard World Championship in 2013, and the WSL Longboard World Championship in 2015. And this is not the end, as we are sure that he will continue to bring us more joy.

'Mafer' Reyes, an example of perseverance

Maria Fernanda Reyes did not have an easy time winning this Monday, as her opponent in the final, the Brazilian Chloe Calmon, started better. She waited for a good wave for more than half an hour and, minutes before the end of the competition, she caught one that allowed her to increase her score in the last heat. It was tremendous, as it seemed that the gold medal was slipping away from her.

With this, 'Mafer' took revenge for what happened in the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, where she won the silver medal. Without a doubt, an example of perseverance and fighting spirit. "I have no words, it was the last wave. I have trained hard for this moment. Chloe (Calmon) is a great competitor, she is among the best in the world. I have no words. I am super happy, overcoming our fears," she said at the end of the competition to the Panam Sports channel.

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