# Athletics at the 1978 Southern Cross Games

Athletics events at the 1978 Southern Cross Games were held at the Estadio Olímpico Hernando Siles in La Paz, Bolivia in November. The stadium was one of the first in South America equipped with a synthetic track. A total of 35 events were contested, 22 by men and 13 by women.
Best performances were by Luis Schneider from Chile winning four gold medals (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay), by native Johnny Pérez from Bolivia winning three gold medals (1500 m, 5000 m, and 3000 m steeplechase), by Ivonne Neddermann from Argentina winning two gold (long jump, 4×100 m relay), two silver (100 m hurdles, pentathlon) and one bronze medal (shot put), and finally by Nancy Vallecilla from Ecuador winning two gold (100 m hurdles, pentathlon), one silver (400 m), and one bronze medal (long jump). She was awarded the unofficial title of "Queen of the Games" (Spanish: Reina de los Juegos).

## Medal summary

Medal winners were published in a book written by Argentinian journalist Ernesto Rodríguez III with support of the Argentine Olympic Committee (Spanish: Comité Olímpico Argentino) under the auspices of the Ministry of Education (Spanish: Ministerio de Educación de la Nación) in collaboration with the Office of Sports (Spanish: Secretaría de Deporte de la Nación). Eduardo Biscayart supplied the list of winners and their results. All results are marked as "affected by altitude" (A), because the stadium in La Paz is situated 3,650 metres above sea level.

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Luis Schneider Chile | 10.70 A | José Luis Elías Peru | 10.77 A | Gustavo Dubarbier Argentina | 10.78 A |
| 200 metres | Luis Schneider Chile | 21.4 A | Ricardo Donda Argentina | 21.5 A | José Luis Elías Peru | 21.6 A |
| 400 metres | Patricio Valenzuela Chile | 48.31 A | Felipe Mascaró Chile | 49.08 A | Roberto Prado Bolivia | 49.12 A |
| 800 metres | Omar Amdematten Argentina | 1:56.68 A | Álvaro Cortez Argentina | 1:57.22 A | Felipe Mascaró Chile | 1:57.51 A |
| 1500 metres | Johnny Pérez Bolivia | 4:11.56 A | Pedro Foronda Bolivia | 4:12.72 A | Abel Godoy Uruguay | 4:14.09 A |
| 5000 metres | Johnny Pérez Bolivia | 15:54.33 A | Luis Tipán Ecuador | 15:56.54 A | Lucio Guachalla Bolivia | 16:18.14 A |
| 10,000 metres | Luis Tipán Ecuador | 33:28.14 A | Lucio Guachalla Bolivia | 34:11.62 A | Rufino Chávez Bolivia | 34:30.27 A |
| 110 m hurdles | Alfredo Piza Chile | 14.64 A | Rodolfo Iturraspe Argentina | 15.04 A | Francisco Fuentes Chile | 15.42 A |
| 400 m hurdles | Alfredo Piza Chile | 53.26 A | Rodolfo Iturraspe Argentina | 54.53 A | Guillermo Gago Argentina | 56.08 A |
| 3000 m steeplechase | Johnny Pérez Bolivia | 9:53.08 A | Luis Tipán Ecuador | 10:07.39 A | Norberto Limonta Argentina | 10:34.24 A |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Chile Patricio Valenzuela Luis Alberto Schneider Francisco Pichott Alejandro Kapsch | 40.35 A | Jorge Ullanque José Torrico Roberto Prado Ernesto Roca Bolivia | 40.91 A | Daniel Díaz Antuña Ricardo Donda Angel Gagliano Eduardo Labalta Argentina | 41.05 A |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | Chile Patricio Valenzuela Luis Schneider Alfredo Piza Felipe Mascaró | 3:18.48 A | Daniel Díaz Antuña Guillermo Gago Angel Gagliano Rodolfo Iturraspe Argentina | 3:18.73 A | Roberto Prado Edgar Aguayo Freddy Bustamante Freddy Torrico Bolivia | 3:18.78 A |
| 20 kilometres walk | Oswaldo Morejón Bolivia | 1:56:13 A | Esteban Quelale Bolivia | 1:56.49 A | Víctor Sánchez Paraguay | 2:08.05 A |
| High jump | Daniel Mamet Argentina | 2.18 A | Luis Arbulú Peru | 2.05 A | Víctor Migliaro Chile | 2.00 A |
| Pole vault | Roberto Steinmetz Argentina | 4.60 A | Alejandro Jadresic Chile | 4.20 A | Andrés Vicuña Chile | 4.00 A |
| Long jump | Francisco Pichot Chile | 7.47 A | Alex Kapch Chile | 7.46 A | Ronald Raborg Peru | 7.25 A |
| Triple jump | Francisco Pichot Chile | 16.27 A | Angel Gagliano Argentina | 15.66 A | Óscar Aguirre Bolivia | 13.47 A |
| Shot put | José Alberto Vallejo Argentina | 14.46 A | Héctor Rivero Argentina | 14.11 A | Miro Ronac Peru | 11.63 A |
| Discus throw | Héctor Rivero Argentina | 47.10 A | José Alberto Vallejo Argentina | 46.76 A | Eduardo Vieira Chile | 43.68 A |
| Hammer throw | José Alberto Vallejo Argentina | 63.90 A | Daniel Gómez Argentina | 62.38 A | Miro Ronac Peru | 33.26 A |
| Javelin throw | Angel Garmendia Argentina | 70.70 A | Miro Ronac Peru | 60.04 A | | |
| Decathlon | Roberto Steinmetz Argentina | 6624 A | Alfredo Silva Chile | 6597 A | | |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Beatriz Allocco Argentina | 11.73 A | Carmela Bolívar Peru | 11.83 A | Isabel Alemán Bolivia | 12.06 A |
| 200 metres | Beatriz Allocco Argentina | 22.94 A | Carmela Bolívar Peru | 23.55 A | Isabel Alemán Bolivia | 24.57 A |
| 400 metres | Alejandra Ramos Chile | 56.68 A | Nancy Vallecilla Ecuador | 59.05 A | Blanca Ibáñez Bolivia | 59.17 A |
| 800 metres | Ana María Nielsen Argentina | 2:15.85 A | Mery Rojas Bolivia | 2:19.03 A | Laura Méndez Ecuador | 2:20.73 A |
| 1500 metres | Ana María Nielsen Argentina | 4:57.12 A | Laura Méndez Ecuador | 5:08.58 A | Trinidad Guerra Chile | 5:11.7 A |
| 100 m hurdles | Nancy Vallecilla Ecuador | 13.80 A | Ivonne Neddermann Argentina | 14.34 A | Emilia Dyrzka Argentina | 14.74 A |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Argentina Ivonne Neddermann Emilia Dyrzka Araceli Bruschini Beatriz Allocco | 46.06 A | Bolivia CarIa Guissini Blanca Ibáñez Martha Novillo Isabel Alemán | 46.94 A | | |
| High jump | Elizabeth Huber Chile | 1.75 A | Laura Ragas Argentina | 1.65 A | Ximena Mesa Chile | 1.65 A |
| Long jump | Ivonne Neddermann Argentina | 6.05 A | Ximena Mesa Chile | 5.97 A | Nancy Vallecilla Ecuador | 5.90 A |
| Shot put | Patricia Weber Argentina | 12.91 A | Lorena Prado Chile | 12.49 A | Ivonne Neddermann Argentina | 12.10 A |
| Discus throw | Lucy Ascune Uruguay | 39.72 A | Lorena Prado Chile | 38.12 A | Elizabeth Garnica Bolivia | 31.02 A |
| Javelin throw | Ana María Campillay Argentina | 46.72 A | Elizabeth Guernica Bolivia | 36.78 A | Elizabeth Huber Chile | 31.18 A |
| Pentathlon | Nancy Vallecilla Ecuador | 3798 A | Ivonne Neddermann Argentina | 3625 A | Ariana Salas Chile | 3103 A |

## Medal table (unofficial)

* Host nation (Bolivia)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Argentina (ARG) | 16 | 12 | 6 | 34 |
| 2 | Chile (CHI) | 11 | 7 | 9 | 27 |
| 3 | Bolivia (BOL)* | 4 | 7 | 9 | 20 |
| 4 | Ecuador (ECU) | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 5 | Uruguay (URU) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Peru (PER) | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 7 | Paraguay (PAR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | Totals (7 entries) | 35 | 35 | 32 | 102 |