Havana, October 21 (PL) --Weightlifter Arley Calderón conquered today the first gold medal for Cuba at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, in a competition held at the Chinkowe Gymnasium in Peñalolén.

After leading the start with a 125 kilograms, the also champion of the Central American Games of San Salvador 2023, lifted a weight of 154 kg in his first attempt of the repulsion, to add a total of 279 and beat his other eight rivals in the 61 kg division.

The silver medal went to Mexico's Víctor Guemez with a total of 276 kg (123-153) and the bronze medal went to Ecuador's Víctor Jesús Bardales (bronze at the Lima 2019 meet) with a total of 275 kg (124-275).

In this first day of weightlifting, two other sets of medals will be distributed in the 49 kg (female) and 73 kg (male) divisions.

Weightlifting is one of the most traditional sports in the regional multiple events, present since the first edition in Buenos Aires 1951. In the last Lima 2019 games, 140 athletes from 21 countries participated and it was dominated by Colombia with five golds and four silvers, followed by the United States and Venezuela, both with two golds and one silver.