# 1939 South American Championships in Athletics

The 1939 South American Championships in Athletics were held in Lima, Peru. This edition marked the introduction of athletic events for women competitors between 25 and 28 May.

## Medal summary
### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | José de Assis Brazil | 10.6 =CR | Roberto Valenzuela Chile | 10.8 | Eulogio Higueras Peru | 10.9 |
| 200 metres | José de Assis Brazil | 21.4 CR | Roberto Valenzuela Chile | 21.9 | Jaime Slullitel Argentina | 22.0 |
| 400 metres | Sylvio Padilha Brazil | 49.1 | Antonio Cuba Peru | 49.4 | Raúl Muñoz Chile | 49.6 |
| 800 metres | Luis Espinoza Peru | 1:55.6 | Luis Elorga Argentina | 1:56.3 | Guillermo García Chile | 1:56.3 |
| 1500 metres | Miguel Castro Chile | 3:57.6 CR | Guillermo García Chile | 3:58.6 | Juan Herrera Argentina | 4:01.8 |
| 3000 metres | Miguel Castro Chile | 8:42.4 CR | Ubaldo Ibarra Argentina | 8:44.0 | Guillermo García Chile | 8:48.2 |
| 5000 metres | Miguel Castro Chile | 15:06.0 | Roger Ceballos Argentina | 15:09.8 | Ubaldo Ibarra Argentina | 15:12.2 |
| 10,000 metres | Roger Ceballos Argentina | 31:48.0 | Raúl Ibarra Argentina | 31:53.6 | Ezequiel Bustamente Argentina | 31:57.4 |
| Road race | Manuel Ramírez Chile | 1:58:59 | Julio Montecinos Chile | 1:59:46 | Segundo Rosas Chile | 2:01:10 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Alfredo Mendes Brazil | 15.0 | Mário da Cunha Brazil | 15.6 | Hélio Pereira Brazil | 15.6 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Sylvio Padilha Brazil | 53.6 CR | Marcelo Julca Peru | 55.0 | Roberto González Argentina | 55.5 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Brazil Guilherme Puschnik Márcio de Oliveira Sylvio Padilha José de Assis | 42.1 CR | Chile Alejandro González Roberto Valenzuela Alfonso Hoelzel John Sutton | 42.4 | Argentina Jaime Slullitel Raúl Chane Antonio Fondevilla José Ferraz | 42.4 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | Brazil Emilio Antonio Elias Sylvio Padilha José de Assis Antonio Damaso | 3:19.0 CR | Argentina Alberto Montana Marino Cid Roberto González José López | 3:19.8 | Chile Felipe Gamez Roberto Yokota Reyes Raúl Muñoz | 3:20.2 |
| 3000 metres team race | Chile | 10 | Argentina | 11 | Brazil | 33 |
| Cross country | Manuel Carreño Chile | 49:56.0 | Raúl Ibarra Argentina | 50:16.6 | Domingo Ticona Peru | 50:23.4 |
| High jump | Julio Mera Peru | 1.85 | Icaro Mello Brazil | 1.85 | Carlos Pinto Brazil | 1.85 |
| Pole vault | Erwin Reimer Chile | 3.85 | Luís Taliberti Brazil | 3.80 | Fernando Montero Chile | 3.80 |
| Long jump | Márcio de Oliveira Brazil | 7.29 | Guillermo Dyer Peru | 7.25 | Carlos Iturri Peru | 6.97 |
| Triple jump | Oscar Bringas Peru | 15.22 CR | Néstor Tenorio Argentina | 15.19 | Carlos Pinto Brazil | 14.40 |
| Shot put | Francisco Scabello Brazil | 13.88 | Karsten Brödersen Chile | 13.59 | Carmine Di Giorgio Brazil | 13.55 |
| Discus throw | Bento Barros Brazil | 44.47 CR | Karsten Brödersen Chile | 41.55 | Antônio Giusfredi Brazil | 41.39 |
| Hammer throw | Juan Fusé Argentina | 49.77 | Assis Naban Brazil | 49.05 | Antonio Barticevic Chile | 47.74 |
| Javelin throw | Egon Falkenberg Brazil | 62.84 CR | Luís Pagliari Brazil | 60.14 | Oswaldo Wenzel Chile | 58.85 |
| Decathlon | Juan Colín Chile | 5932 | João Rehder Netto Brazil | 5887 | Karsten Brödersen Chile | 5862 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Carola Castro Ecuador | 12.6 | Lelia Spuhr Argentina | 12.7 | Julia Druskus Argentina | 12.7 |
| 200 metres | Lelia Spuhr Argentina | 25.9 | Carola Castro Ecuador | 26.2 | Lily Warch Chile | 27.1 |
| 80 metres hurdles | Sofía Dreyer Argentina | 12.5 | Rosa Marticorena Peru | 13.1 | Olga Tassi Argentina | 13.1 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Argentina Elsa Irigoyen Olga Tassi Lelia Spuhr Julia Druskus | 49.5 | Chile Raquel Martínez Ilse Karlsruher María Boecke Lily Warch | 50.8 | Peru Ivonne Abdala Julia Yáñez Zoila Garces Flor Benvenuto | 50.9 |
| High jump | Ilse Barends Chile | 1.45 | Gabriela Sprenger Chile | 1.45 | Lelia Spuhr Argentina | 1.45 |
| Long jump | Raquel Martínez Chile | 5.13 | Olga Tassi Argentina | 5.12 | Zoila Garcés Peru | 4.80 |
| Shot put | Ruth Caro Argentina | 11.22 | Edith Klempau Chile | 10.96 | Kate Fastner Argentina | 10.71 |
| Discus throw | María Boecke Chile | 32.61 | Ernestina Casaverde Peru | 30.61 | Edith Klempau Chile | 28.98 |
| Javelin throw | Ruth Caro Argentina | 36.85 | Olga Merino Chile | 31.91 | Kate Fastner Argentina | 30.28 |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Chile (CHI) | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 |
| 2 | Brazil (BRA) | 11 | 6 | 6 | 23 |
| 3 | Argentina (ARG) | 7 | 10 | 11 | 28 |
| 4 | Peru (PER) | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Ecuador (ECU) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals (5 entries) | Totals (5 entries) | 33 | 33 | 33 | 99 |