Argentina wraps up Santa Fe 2026 with 78 gold medals

The 2026 South American Games in Santa Fe came to a close, with the Argentine delegation claiming 78 gold medals. 

The tally is the country’s best haul in 20 years, as Argentina surpassed the 60-gold-medal milestone for the first time since the 2006 Buenos Aires Games, when it won 107. 

The host nation ended the games with 279 medals, including silver and bronze. In all Olympic-style competitions, it’s the gold medal tally that orders the standings, and not the total tally.

In one of the last competitions, on Friday the Argentina U-19 national team lost the men’s football gold medal match to Paraguay at the Marcelo Bielsa Stadium in Rosario.

Santa Fe 2026 will come to a close on Saturday with an official ceremony at the city’s Parque del Sur. 

The event will kick off at 6 p.m. and will feature protocolary activities, the parade of delegations, the ceremonial hand-over of the flag, and a tribute to the volunteers involved in organizing the Games.

Over 300 students from the provincial Choirs and Orchestras Network will participate in the closing ceremony, which will conclude with performances by Bresh, Cacho Deicas, and others. The event is free to attend, but those interested are required to book a QR Code ticket through the official website

There will also be events in Rosario and Rafaela, which hosted some of the Games’ events.

Canoeing turns into a gold mine Sprint canoeing picked up the pace for the Argentine delegation as the games entered their final few days, with the locals dominating on the waters of the Laguna Setúbal, near the city of Santa Fe.

On Thursday, Magdalena Garro, Candelaria Sequeira, Paulina Barreiro, and Lucía Dalto won the women’s K4 500 meters race with a time of 1:31.25.

Garro doubled her tally on Friday, winning the women’s K2 500 meters alongside Brenda Rojas with a time of 1:37.51. The Argentine pair finished more than three seconds ahead of Brazil, enough for Garro to defend the title she had won at the Asunción 2022 Games.

Rojas also picked up a second gold medal, winning in the mixed K2 500 meters on Friday alongside Agustín Vernice. The albiceleste duo crossed the line in 1:30.21 to secure top honors.

The Argentine dominance continued on the men’s side. 

On Thursday, Vernice, Gonzalo Carreras, Vicente Vergauven and Rubén Vaisard took the win in the K4 500with a 1:16.83, ahead of Uruguay and Chile.

Vernice and Carreras then doubled their tally on Friday, winning the men’s K2 500 meters with a 1:25.15 to secure a clear victory over Uruguay (1:26.61) and bronze medalists Venezuela (1:27.23).

Taekwondo wins after 12 years Taekwondo athlete José Luis Acuña, from Neuquén, broke a 12-year gold drought for Argentina in the discipline on Friday. 

The 23-year-old won gold in the Kyorugi under-68 kg division after defeating Brazil’s João Souza in the final, to get the delegation’s first top spot on the podium since Olympic champion Sebastián Crismanich’s victory at Santiago 2014.

The moment proved especially emotional for Acuña, who admitted after the win he had to take almost two years away from taekwondo due to personal and health reasons. He only returned to the sport after receiving a call from Crismanich himself while he was working at a supermarket.

“That’s just life. If you don’t try, you never know,” said Acuña, who has been training with Crismanich in Corrientes and admitted having been away from his home in Neuquén for over a year.

Argentina running away from the competition Argentine athletics delivered another standout performance on the track in the final days.

The team comprising Agustín Pinti, María Florencia Lamboglia, Elián Larregina, and Megan Powell took gold in the mixed 4×400-meter relay, completing the race in 3:16.93, finishing ahead of Colombia and Ecuador and setting both a national and a South American Games record. 

The mark shattered the previous Games record of 3:21.53 set by Brazil at Asunción 2022, and lowered the Argentine national record of 3:17.55, set in Medellín in June 2026.

It comes after long-distance runner Micaela Levaggi made history at Santa Fe 2026 on Thursday.

Just a day after taking gold in the 1,500 meters — Argentina’s first athletics gold medal in the Games — Levaggi took first in the 5,000 meters to earn her second consecutive gold.

The 28-year-old from Mar del Plata completed the race in 15:48.73 after a tightly contested race to the end with Peru’s Lizaida Valdivia that was decided on the final lap.

Swimming led early on Argentina’s first gold medal came at the saber tip of Pascual Di Tella, who claimed victory in the men’s individual saber event, beating Venezuela’s Eliecer Romero in the final. However, the undisputed stars of the early days of competition were the Argentine swimmers.

On day one, Macarena Ceballos and Cecilia Dieleke took top honors in the women’s 100m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, respectively. 

Argentina also took gold in the women’s 4x100m medley relay, with a team featuring Dieleke (backstroke), Ceballos (breaststroke), Laila Chain (butterfly), and Andrea Berrino (freestyle).

The national team reached 28 medals in total, making swimming the country’s most successful discipline at the Games.

Russo three-peats Sport shooter Fernanda Russo made history at the Games by securing her third consecutive 10m air rifle title.

The Córdoba native won the final at the International Shooting Center with a score of 249.1 points. Brazil’s Geovana Meyer finished second with 246.7, while Peru’s Sara Vizcarra completed the podium with 225.5.

The result not only keeps Argentina in close pursuit of Brazil but also secures a ticket for Russo to the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, where she’ll aim to earn a spot at the LA 2028 Olympics.

Armenian wrestler brings Argentina glory Armenian-born wrestler Arsen Julfalakyan was another of the biggest stories of the games, claiming gold for Argentina in the under-77kg Greco-Roman wrestling category, beating Colombia’s Jair Cuero 4-2 in the final on September 20.

The 39-year-old, who won a silver medal for Armenia at the London 2012 Olympics, retired in 2021, citing a loss of motivation after being left out of the Armenian team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

In 2024, he made a comeback to represent Argentina after being invited by Argentine Olympic wrestler Yuri Maier. He quickly found a new home, saying his wife and children “fell in love with Argentina.”

Pumas and Yaguaretés crowned Argentina’s rugby sevens teams also had their moment of pride as they claimed gold in the men’s and women’s tournaments on September 21.

The women’s team, known as the Yaguaretés delivered a dominant performance in the final, thrashing Colombia 33-5. Paraguay claimed the bronze medal by beating Uruguay 22-12.

The win not only ended Brazil’s longstanding dominance in the women’s event but also secured Argentina’s berth at the 2027 Pan American Games.

Meanwhile, the Pumas — the men’s team — beat Chile 17-7 to claim the top spot on the podium, repeating the titles they won in Santiago in 2014 and Asunción in 2022. Third place went to Uruguay, who comfortably defeated Colombia 22-7.

Hockey wins double gold A day later, another Argentine double came in the field hockey tournaments, where Las Leonas and Los Leones, the women’s and men’s national teams, respectively, claimed gold on September 22. 

The women’s team, who were fresh off winning the field hockey World Cup, thrashed Chile 5-0 to avenge their defeat in the final of the Asunción 2022 South American Games.

Meanwhile, the men’s team, entering the tournament as winners of the last four editions, earned a 3-1 victory over Chile as well, securing their fifth consecutive title.

Photo credit: COA