# 1979 South American Championships in Athletics

The 1979 South American Championships in Athletics were held in Bucaramanga, Colombia, between 31 October and 4 November.
It was the last edition to feature women's pentathlon before replacing it with the heptathlon.

## Medal summary
### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Altevir de Araújo Brazil | 10.1 CR | Manuel Ramírez Colombia | 10.4 | Reinaldo Lizardi Venezuela | 10.6 |
| 200 metres | Altevir de Araújo Brazil | 20.5 CR | Katsuhiko Nakaia Brazil | 20.8 | Héctor Daley Panama | 21.1 |
| 400 metres | Geraldo José Pegado Brazil | 46.20 CR | Antônio Dias Ferreira Brazil | 46.90 | Héctor Daley Panama | 47.40 |
| 800 metres | Cristián Molina Chile | 1:47.8 CR | William Wuycke Venezuela | 1:47.9 | Pedro Cáceres Argentina | 1:48.5 |
| 1500 metres | Emilio Ulloa Chile | 3:47.0 CR | José Velásquez Venezuela | 3:47.5 | Wilson de Santana Brazil | 3:47.9 |
| 5000 metres | Alejandro Silva Chile | 13:57.2 CR | Domingo Tibaduiza Colombia | 14:03.4 | Johnny Pérez Bolivia | 14:16.1 |
| 10,000 metres | Silvio Salazar Colombia | 28:50.4 | Domingo Tibaduiza Colombia | 28:51.2 | Víctor Maldonado Venezuela | 29:37.3 |
| Marathon † | Luis Barbosa Colombia | 1:56:12 | Alfonso Torres Colombia | 1:57:25 | Lucirio Garrido Venezuela | 1:59:30 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Germán Aranda Colombia | 8:52.3 | Elói Schleder Brazil | 8:57.4 | Johnny Pérez Bolivia | 8:58.6 (NR) |
| 110 metres hurdles | Wellington da Nóbrega Brazil | 14.4 | Carlos dos Santos Brazil | 14.6 | Andrés Lyon Chile | 14.9 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Antônio Dias Ferreira Brazil | 50.7 CR | Donizete Soares Brazil | 51.1 | José Davis Venezuela | 51.5 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Venezuela Reinaldo Lizardi Ely Zabala Esteban Briceño Miguel Condé | 40.0 CR | Brazil Milton de Castro Geraldo Pegado Katsuhiko Nakaya Altevir de Araújo | 40.2 | Argentina Angel Gagliano Gustavo Dubarbier Carlos Gambetta Ricardo Donda | 40.4 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | Venezuela Hipolito Brown Alexis Herrera Oswaldo Zea William Wuycke | 3:09.8 | Argentina Gabriel Castellá Carlos Gambetta Pedro Cáceres Angel Gagliano | 3:10.5 | Brazil Donizete Soares Wilson dos Santos Antônio Ferreira Geraldo Pegado | 3:10.5 |
| 20 kilometres road walk † | Ernesto Alfaro Colombia | 1:29:31 | Waldemar da Silva Brazil | 1:29:37 | Jorge Quiñones Colombia | 1:29:51 |
| High jump | Daniel Mamet Argentina | 2.12 CR | Geraldo Rodrigues Brazil | 2.09 | Iraja Cecy Brazil | 2.09 |
| Pole vault | Fernando Ruocco Uruguay | 4.70 CR | Tito Steiner Argentina | 4.60 | Henry Gómez Chile | 4.45 |
| Long jump | Oswaldo Torres Venezuela | 7.67 | Carlos Gambetta Argentina | 7.58 | Francisco de Oliveira Brazil | 7.57 |
| Triple jump | José Salazar Venezuela | 16.23 | Francisco de Oliveira Brazil | 16.15 | Celso Pereira Brazil | 15.83 |
| Shot put | Gert Weil Chile | 16.42 | Jesús Ramos Venezuela | 16.22 | José Jacques Brazil | 16.20 |
| Discus throw | Sérgio Thomé Brazil | 56.10* | Luis Palacios Venezuela | 54.42* | José Jacques Brazil | 53.10* |
| Hammer throw | José Vallejo Argentina | 63.44 | Celso de Moraes Brazil | 61.44 | Daniel Gómez Argentina | 57.60 |
| Javelin throw | Angel Garmendia Argentina | 72.32 CR | Orángel Rodríguez Venezuela | 70.32 | Paulo Hasse Brazil | 68.84 |
| Decathlon | Alfredo Silva Chile | 6991 | Ramón Montezuma Venezuela | 6964 | Claudio Escauriza Paraguay | 6791 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Beatriz Allocco Argentina | 11.7 =CR | Carmela Bolívar Peru | 11.8 | Esmeralda de Jesus Garcia Brazil | 11.8 |
| 200 metres | Beatriz Allocco Argentina | 23.5 | Tânia Miranda Brazil | 24.1 | Esmeralda de Jesus Garcia Brazil | 24.1 |
| 400 metres | Tânia Miranda Brazil | 54.2 CR | Margarita Grün Uruguay | 54.8 | Miriam Rojas Colombia | 54.8 |
| 800 metres | Alejandra Ramos Chile | 2:04.2 AR | Nancy González Chile | 2:09.8 | Adriana Marchena Venezuela | 2:10.4 |
| 1500 metres | Alejandra Ramos Chile | 4:23.2 CR | Teresa Rodríguez Colombia | 4:32.6 | Monica Regonesi Chile | 4:36.1 |
| 100 metres hurdles | Yvonne Neddermann Argentina | 14.2 | Olga Verissimo Brazil | 14.4 | Beatriz Capotosto Argentina | 14.7 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Argentina Marisol Besada Belkis Fava Yvonne Neddermann Beatriz Allocco | 46.0 | Brazil Maria Teresa Soares Olga Verissimo Esmeralda de Jesus Garcia Sheila de Oliveira | 46.1 | Venezuela Glennis Báez Adriana Marchena Elsa Antúnez Yaneris Guerra | 46.6 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | Brazil Maria Teresa Soares Joyce Felipe dos Santos Conceição Geremias Tânia Miranda | 3:42.0 AR | Chile María Eugenia Guzmán Carla Herencia Nancy González Alejandra Ramos | 3:44.6 | Colombia Ángela Mancilla Luz Villa Maŕia Ocoro Miriam Rojas | 3:45.1 |
| High jump | Ana Maria Marcon Brazil | 1.75 | Liliana Arigoni Argentina | 1.75 | Beatriz Bonfim Brazil | 1.70 |
| Long jump | Themis Zambrzycki Brazil | 6.03 | Conceição Geremias Brazil | 5.95 | Yvonne Neddermann Argentina | 5.92 |
| Shot put | Magdalena Gómez Colombia | 13.94 | Themis Zambrzycki Brazil | 13.84 | Maria Boso Brazil | 13.24 |
| Discus throw | Sandra Peres Brazil | 46.11 | Maria Boso Brazil | 42.54 | Selene Saldarriaga Colombia | 41.78 |
| Javelin throw | Marli dos Santos Brazil | 50.92 CR | Neuza Trolezzi Brazil | 45.07 | Ana María Campillay Argentina | 42.30 |
| Pentathlon | Themis Zambrzycki Brazil | 4117 | Conceição Geremias Brazil | 3880 | Yvonne Neddermann Argentina | 3833 |
† = short course (c37km)
* = light implement (1.75 kg)
† = short course

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Brazil (BRA) | 13 | 18 | 12 | 43 |
| 2 | Argentina (ARG) | 7 | 4 | 7 | 18 |
| 3 | Chile (CHI) | 7 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Colombia (COL) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| 5 | Venezuela (VEN) | 4 | 6 | 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Uruguay (URU) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | Peru (PER) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Bolivia (BOL) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | Panama (PAN) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Paraguay (PAR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (10 entries) | Totals (10 entries) | 37 | 37 | 37 | 111 |

## Participating nations

* Argentina (36)
* Bolivia (1)
* Brazil (49)
* Chile (41)
* Colombia (40)
* Panama (9)
* Paraguay (1)
* Peru (15)
* Uruguay (5)
* Venezuela (43)