The United States continued to lead the Pan American Games and Brazil showed its growth

MEXICO CITY, November 5 (EFE).- The President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, congratulated at the National Palace the athletes who placed the country in third place in the overall medal table of the Pan American Games that concluded on Sunday in Santiago. From Chile.

The Mexican national team finished with an unprecedented 52 gold medals out of 142 metal medals.

“The gold record was reached with 52 medals for a total of 142 medals, something that has never been achieved. Since 1955, Only twice, in 2019 and now we are third.”

Additionally, he took the opportunity to acknowledge the support of the Mexican competitors’ families and coaches, as well as the sport’s sponsoring brands and state governments.

He also highlighted the efforts of institutions such as the Secretariats of the Navy (CIMAR) and the National Defense (CEDNA), and the Director of the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (CONAD) and former Olympic medalist Ana Gabriela Guevara.

Before the start of the Pan American Games, the Mexican President met with the athletes and expressed confidence in their performance in Chile.

“There is direct support for the sport for all members of the delegation and a little more for those who hold a medal. The resources are already ready for Mexico to be in a very good place in Chile,” the President stressed.

This came after controversy due to the lack of support for Mexican competitors, which led to public disagreements between the athletes and the president of CONAD herself, and motivated the various brands to support with financial and in-kind resources.

However, during the meeting last October, Guevara explained that Mexican athletes would be supported with an amount of more than 1,000 million pesos for this edition of the Games.

“The P1,000 million in direct support will be exceeded; Never before has this amount of money been given to support athletes. “We aim to play our best role in Chile,” the 2004 Athens Olympic silver medalist said.

In the previous edition of the 2019 Pan American Games, in Lima, the country finished third in the medal table with 138 medals. 37 gold, 39 silver and 62 bronze, behind only the United States and Brazil.