# 1961 South American Championships in Athletics

The 1961 South American Championships in Athletics were held in Lima, Peru, between 20 and 28 May.

## Medal summary
### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Arquímedes Herrera Venezuela | 10.6 | Horacio Esteves Venezuela | 10.6 | José Telles da Conceição Brazil | 10.7 |
| 200 metres | Horacio Esteves Venezuela | 21.3 | Arquímedes Herrera Venezuela | 21.6 | Luis Vienna Argentina | 21.8 |
| 400 metres | Anubes da Silva Brazil | 48.8 | Juan Carlos Dyrzka Argentina | 49.3 | Eulogio Gomes Peru | 50.0 |
| 800 metres | Ramón Sandoval Chile | 1:51.2 | José Neira Colombia | 1:52.6 | Eduardo Balducci Argentina | 1:53.3 |
| 1500 metres | Ramón Sandoval Chile | 3:51.2 | Osvaldo Suárez Argentina | 3:53.5 | Eduardo Balducci Argentina | 3:54.6 |
| 5000 metres | Osvaldo Suárez Argentina | 14:54.7 | Luis Sandoval Argentina | 14:55.5 | Alberto Ríos Argentina | 15:02.6 |
| 10,000 metres | Osvaldo Suárez Argentina | 30:18.1 | Luis Sandoval Argentina | 31:13.9 | Luis Campusano Chile | 31:27.3 |
| Marathon | Juan Silva Chile | 2:39:36 CR | Ricardo Vidal Chile | 2:41:16 | Armando Pino Argentina | 2:42:21 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Sebastião Mendes Brazil | 9:14.8 | Domingo Amaisón Argentina | 9:20.6 | Alberto Ríos Argentina | 9:23.4 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Carlos Mossa Brazil | 14.5 =CR | José Telles da Conceição Brazil | 14.7 | Teófilo Davis Bell Venezuela | 15.0 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Juan Carlos Dyrzka Argentina | 52.3 | Anubes da Silva Brazil | 52.8 | Ulisses dos Santos Brazil | 54.0 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Venezuela Clive Bonas Horacio Esteves Arquímedes Herrera Emilio Romero | 41.0 | Brazil Affonso da Silva Jorge de Barros Anubes da Silva José da Conceição | 41.5 | Argentina Luis Vienna Juan Stocker Roberto Ferrairo Guillermo Bahler | 42.2 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | Venezuela Rafael Romero Emilio Romero Horacio Esteves Hortensio Fucil | 3:16.0 | Argentina Raúl Zabala Luis Vienna Juan Stocker Juan Carlos Dyrzka | 3:16.9 | Brazil Ulisses dos Santos Anubes da Silva Peter Ostermaier Carlos Alberto Ferreira | 3:18.1 |
| High jump | Eugenio Velasco Chile | 1.95 | Eleuterio Fassi Argentina | 1.95 | Horacio Martínez Argentina | 1.95 |
| Pole vault | Marcelo de Souza Brazil | 3.90 | Tomatsu Nishida Brazil | 3.90 | Brígido Iriarte Venezuela | 3.80 |
| Long jump | Juan Muñoz Venezuela | 7.13 | Newton de Castro Brazil | 7.06 | Fermín Donazar Uruguay | 6.92 |
| Triple jump | Asnoldo Devonish Venezuela | 14.68 | Sylvio Moreira Brazil | 14.52 | Reinaldo de Oliveira Brazil | 14.42 |
| Shot put | Enrique Helf Argentina | 15.86 CR | Luis Di Cursi Argentina | 15.69 | Héctor Thomas Venezuela | 14.58 |
| Discus throw | Günther Kruse Argentina | 48.57 | Enrique Helf Argentina | 46.98 | Héctor Menacho Peru | 46.97 |
| Hammer throw | Daniel Cereali Venezuela | 52.55 | Roberto Chapchap Brazil | 50.81 | Carlos Marzo Argentina | 50.50 |
| Javelin throw | Ricardo Héber Argentina | 64.25 | Orlando Garrido Brazil | 63.56 | Luis Zárate Peru | 61.40 |
| Decathlon | Bernabé Souza Brazil | 5662 | Tito Bracho Venezuela | 5587 | Cleomenes da Cunha Brazil | 5502 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Edith Berg Argentina | 12.4 | Nancy Correa Chile | 12.4 | Marisol Massot Chile | 12.5 |
| 200 metres | Edith Berg Argentina | 25.7 | Ada Brener Argentina | 25.8 | Marta Buongiorno Argentina | 26.0 |
| 80 metres hurdles | Wanda dos Santos Brazil | 11.5 | Maria José de Lima Brazil | 11.9 | Maria Teixeira Brazil | 12.0 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Brazil Wanda dos Santos Maria Caldeira Laurette Godoy Erica da Silva | 48.9 | Argentina Edith Berg Marta Buongiorno Alicia Kaufmanas Ada Brener | 48.9 | Chile Aurora Bianchi Marisol Massot Doris Peter Nancy Correa | 49.2 |
| High jump | Aída dos Santos Brazil | 1.60 =CR | Nelly Gómez Chile | 1.55 | Maria José de Lima Brazil | 1.50 |
| Long jump | Wanda dos Santos Brazil | 5.38 | Ada Brener Argentina | 5.32 | Alicia Kaufmanas Argentina | 5.21 |
| Shot put | Ingeborg Pfüller Argentina | 12.41 | Vera Trezoitko Brazil | 12.16 | Pradelia Delgado Chile | 11.81 |
| Discus throw | Ingeborg Pfüller Argentina | 41.92 | Pradelia Delgado Chile | 39.78 | Sumiko Yamakawa Brazil | 38.89 |
| Javelin throw | Marlene Ahrens Chile | 42.85 | Mercedes García Venezuela | 37.45 | Vera Trezoitko Brazil | 37.29 |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Argentina (ARG) | 10 | 12 | 11 | 33 |
| 2 | Brazil (BRA) | 9 | 10 | 9 | 28 |
| 3 | Venezuela (VEN) | 7 | 4 | 3 | 14 |
| 4 | Chile (CHI) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 5 | Colombia (COL) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Peru (PER) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Uruguay (URU) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | Totals (7 entries) | 31 | 31 | 31 | 93 |