Colombia win Central American gold
Colombia retained their third Central American & Caribbean Games title in San Salvador earlier this week.
Published by John Birch, July 1st, 2023
3 minute read
The “Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe” are the oldest regional multi-sport Games apart from the Olympics, having taken place every four years since 1926. Women’s sevens was first included in 2014 in Mexico,when Colombia were the winners.
Colombia won againwhen they staged the Games in 2018.
The 2022 Games were delayed a year but took place in San Salvador this week, and again Colombia took gold.
Colombia had a difficult South American Sevens earlier in the monthwhen they could only finish fourth, which means they will miss the Olympic repechage, a set-back for a team that took part in the first Olympic sevens in 2014.
However, the Colombians were again too strong for their opponents in these regional games – although Mexico push them all the way, drawing 7-7 in the pool, and only going down 15-7 in the final.
“We got the gold medal again in the women's and men's events, and are very happy with the work that has been carried out, the strength of our athletes, and dedication the of our staff. Of course, this victory is dedicated to all of Colombia, to all the people who support us and to all the people who have been part of this, and we continue working so that rugby continues to grow and more achievements like these can be achieved in the future”, commented very excited and excited Rafael Lozano Altahona, who is president of the Colombian Rugby Federation.
The other notable feature of the Games was the return of Venezuela to international rugby for the first time since 2019. The took bronze.
Results:
Pool: Colombia 15-7 Trinidad & Tobago; Jamaica 0-24 Venezuela; Mexico 19-5 Costa Rica; Jamaica 0-27 Colombia; Costa Rica 12-26 Venezuela; Mexico 29-5 Trinidad & Tobago; Colombia 40-5 Venezuela; Mexico 12-28 Jamaica; Costa Rica 5-29 Trinidad & Tobago; Costa Rica 0-34 Colombia; Mexico 12-10 Venezuela; Jamaica 31-21 Trinidad & Tobago; Mexico 7-7 Colombia; Venezuela 24-5 Trinidad & Tobago; Jamaica 29-0 Costa Rica
Semi-Finals: Jamaica 7-36 Colombia; Mexico 12-7 Venezuela
5th Place: Costa Rica 12-10 Trinidad & Tobago
3rd Place: Jamaica 5-10 Venezuela
Final Mexico 7-15 Colombia