SANTO DOMINGO, 13 August 2003 — Jose Serpa, who has an unfortunate reputation for always finishing second, broke his duck by winning the road cycling time trial on Monday to give Colombia their first gold medal at the Pan American Games.
Trinidad’s George Bovell and Georgina Bardach of Argentina broke the US stranglehold on the swimming competition and there were typically fierce clashes between Brazil and Argentina in men’s handball and women’s soccer.
Off the field, organizing committee president Jose Joaquin Puello raised eyebrows when he said the games, which have suffered a series of hiccups, deserved a mark of nine out of 10 for the way they had been run.
Serpa, twice Pan American silver medalist and twice runner-up in the Colombian championship, won the 50 kilometer time trial in one hour 4.45 seconds ahead of Chris Baldwin of the United States and Venezuela’s Raul Chacon.
Brazil came out on top against Argentina in their two encounters, winning 2-1 in the women’s soccer semifinal and 31-30 in the men’s handball final to win the gold medal and qualify for next year’s Olympics.
In the soccer, the women proved every bit as good as the men in the art of gamesmanship and play-acting as they shared 45 fouls in a dour encounter. Seventeen-year-old Marta scored both goals.
The handball included a number of flare-ups between the players, numerous visits to the sin-bin as well as a slanging-match between Argentine players and Brazilian journalists.
The United States, despite sending a second-string team, won three out of five golds in the low-key swimming event but did not have things all their own way.
Twenty-year-old Bovell won the 200 meters freestyle in one minute 48.90 seconds to give Trinidad their first gold of the games. Bardach, seventh in last month’s world swimming championships in Barcelona, won the women’s 400 meters medley in four minutes 43.40.
The Games have suffered several teething troubles including frequent power cuts, a number of collapses in the results system, confusion over national anthems and medal ceremonies, and a complaint by Brazil that their flag used in the opening ceremony contained mistakes.
