Peru's Kimberly García thought she set the world record in the women's 20 kilometers walk race at the Pan American Games in Chile. She later found out she didn't. Organizers of the largest multi-sports in the continent said in a statement that the times of the race were annulled because of "a measuring problem" in Santiago's O'Higgins Park. They blamed the Association of Pan American Athletics for the mistake, the AP reports. Competitors lost ranking points used in qualifying for the Paris Olympics, as well, per Reuters. Athletes believe the distance they ran Sunday was about 3 kilometers—almost 1.9 miles—shorter. The mistake adds to Santiago's problems with organizing the event.
García finished her race in a cold and damp morning in 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 26 seconds. The record belongs to China's Jiayu Yang, at 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 49 seconds. Eleven other competitors seemingly finished their race below the world record. "We do control our pace a lot and right out of the gate, in our first lap, we say the pace was too strong. It was quicker than the men's," said Brazilian Viviane Lyra, who finished fourth, per the AP. "We knew there was something strange, so our goal wasn't even taking the timing into consideration." The Pan American Games organization said it fulfilled its role by hiring Marcelo Ithurralde, an expert commissioned by the association, to take the measurements for the race.
"He did not take accurate measurements of the route the athletes took during the race," organizers said. "We deeply regret the inconvenience for the athletes, their coaches, the public and the attending press, but this situation cannot be attributed to the Organizing Committee." The Association of Pan American Athletics didn't respond to a request for comment. Garcia still celebrated her gold medal in the walk race, which requires competitors to always have at least one foot on the ground. Organizers didn't respond about whether her result stands despite the measuring issue. Problems at the Pan American Games have included trash scattered outside competition venues, threats of a strike by the private security company working the events, and a leak in the handball venue of Viña del Mar, outside Santiago, that shortened a women's handball match.
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