# Athletics at the 1998 South American Games

Athletics events at the 1998 South American Games were held at the Coliseo Mayor de Deportes Jefferson Pérez next to the Estadio Alejandro Serrano Aguilar in Cuenca, Ecuador, between October 26–30, 1998. A total of 45 events were contested, 24 by men and 21 by women. Brazil and Venezuela did not participate in the athletics events.
For the first time, a minimum participation of 4 nations per event was required to award a full set of medals. Men's triple jump and women's 4 x 400 m relay events were concerned, where athletes coming in third did not get bronze medals. Women's marathon was completely cancelled, because there would have been only athletes from host country Ecuador.

## Medal summary

Medal winners were published in a book by written 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. Further results were published elsewhere, or can be found in athlete's IAAF biographies.
All results are marked as "affected by altitude" (A), because the stadium in Cuenca is situated 2536 m above sea level.

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +0.3 m/s) | Ricardo Roach Chile | 10.36 A | Carlos Gats Argentina | 10.39 A | Juan Pablo Faúndez Chile | 10.49 A |
| 200 metres (wind: +0.1 m/s) | Ricardo Roach Chile | 20.4 A | Héber Viera Uruguay | 21.0 A | Dick Perlaza Ecuador | 21.0 A |
| 400 metres | Dick Perlaza Ecuador | 46.90 A | Carlos Zbinden Chile | 47.22 A | Fabián Aguilera Chile | 48.90 A |
| 800 metres | Mauricio Torres Chile | 1:54.7 A | Pablo Ramírez Ecuador | 1:56.1 A | Carlos Salcedo Ecuador | 1:56.9 A |
| 1500 metres | Pablo Ramírez Ecuador | 4:01.37 A | Richard Arias Ecuador | 4:01.49 A | Geovanni Morejón Bolivia | 4:03.84 A |
| 5000 metres | Jacinto López Colombia | 14:45.09 A | Julio Cutipa Peru | 14:53.27 A | Vicente Chura Peru | 15:00.47 A |
| 10,000 metres | Jacinto López Colombia | 30:09.5 A | Julio Cutipa Peru | 30:10.0 A | Franklin Tenorio Ecuador | 30:13.2 A |
| Marathon | William Ramírez Ecuador | 2:19:56 A | José Jami Ecuador | 2:29:08 A | Vicente Chura Peru | 2:29:22 A |
| 110 metres hurdles (wind: +0.6 m/s) | Carlos Vega Chile | 14.57 A | Jackson Quiñónez Ecuador | 14.58 A | Omar Triviño Ecuador | 15.03 A |
| 400 metres hurdles | Carlos Zbinden Chile | 50.1 A GR | Xavier Caicedo Ecuador | 55.7 A | Richard Ayoví Ecuador | 55.9 A |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Richard Arias Ecuador | 9:16.35 A | Pablo Ramírez Ecuador | 9:19.04 A | Geovanni Morejón Bolivia | 9:19.94 A |
| 4 x 100 metres relay | Ecuador Jackson Quiñónez Dick Perlaza Julio Márquez Fernando Espinoza | 40.40 A | Chile Fabian Aguilera Ricardo Roach Juan Pablo Faúndez Carlos Vega | 40.63 A | Colombia Jhon Córdoba Gilmar Mayo Jacinto López José Alirio Carrasco | 47.42 A |
| 4 x 400 metres relay | Ecuador Xavier Caicedo Cristián Gutiérrez Reuber Navarro Dick Perlaza | 3:11.7 A | Chile Fabián Aguilera Mauricio Torres Juan Pablo Faúndez Carlos Zbinden | 3:12.0 A | Peru Julio Cutipa Eduardo Umbert Juan Tello Vicente Chura | 4:12.2 A |
| 20 Kilometres Walk | Jefferson Pérez Ecuador | 1:23:11 A GR | Nixon Zambrano Colombia | 1:29:28 A | Omar Aguirre Ecuador | 1:33:25 A |
| 50 Kilometres Walk | Héctor Moreno Colombia | 4:27:13 A GR | Patricio Villacorte Ecuador | 4:45:34 A | Freddy Choque Bolivia | 4:46:15 A |
| High Jump | Gilmar Mayo Colombia | 2.24 A | Jackson Quiñónez Ecuador | 2.13 A | Wilmer Cortez Ecuador | 2.00 A |
| Pole Vault | Francisco León Peru | 4.60 A | Diego Moraga Chile | 3.20 A | Flavio Corozo Ecuador | 3.05 A |
| Long Jump | Cristián Antivilo Chile | 7.44 A | Gilmar Mayo Colombia | 7.29 A | Wilmer Cortez Ecuador | 7.28 A |
| Triple Jump | Gilmar Mayo Colombia | 15.78 A | Wilmer Cortez Ecuador | 15.40 A | Cristián Antivilo$^†$ Chile | |
| Shot Put | Marco Antonio Verni Chile | 17.76 A | Juan Tello Peru | 16.66 A | Marcelo Pugliese Argentina | 15.46 A |
| Discus Throw | Marcelo Pugliese Argentina | 59.74 A GR | Marco Antonio Verni Chile | 51.88 A | Juan Tello Peru | 49.46 A |
| Hammer Throw | Juan Cerra Argentina | 68.56 A | Eduardo Acuña Peru | 63.94 A | José Llano Chile | 63.28 A |
| Javelin Throw | Nery Kennedy Paraguay | 71.70 A | Diego Moraga Chile | 67.94 A | Flavio Corozo Ecuador | 57.85 A |
| Decathlon | Santiago Lorenzo Argentina | 6940 A GR | Flavio Corozo Ecuador | 6244 A | | |

#### Notes

$^†$: No medal because of lack of minimum participation.

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: -0.2 m/s) | Ana Caicedo Ecuador | 11.57 A GR | Felipa Palacios Colombia | 11.62 A | Lisette Rondón Chile | 11.76 A |
| 200 metres (wind: +0.1 m/s) | Felipa Palacios Colombia | 22.78 A GR | Lisette Rondón Chile | 23.79 A | Ana Caicedo Ecuador | 23.9 A |
| 400 metres | Felipa Palacios Colombia | 53.45 A | Sulay Nazareno Ecuador | 55.03 A | Hannelore Grosser Chile | 55.64 A |
| 800 metres | Janeth Caizalitín Ecuador | 2:07.14 A | Niusha Mansilla Bolivia | 2:07.85 A | Mercy Colorado Ecuador | 2:09.65 A |
| 1500 metres | Janeth Caizalitín Ecuador | 4:23.07 A | Niusha Mansilla Bolivia | 4:25.42 A | Bertha Sánchez Colombia | 4:26.29 A |
| 5000 metres | Martha Tenorio Ecuador | 16:27.6 A GR | Janeth Caizalitín Ecuador | 16:48.6 A | Niusha Mansilla Bolivia | 17:17.9 A |
| 10,000 metres | Martha Tenorio Ecuador | 34:23.6 A GR | Erika Olivera Chile | 36:00.0 A | Raquel Aceituno Peru | 37:26.1 A |
| 100 metres hurdles (wind: +0.5 m/s) | Verónica Depaoli Argentina | 13.62 A GR | María Quiñones Colombia | 13.69 A | Ondina Rodríguez Ecuador | 14.68 A |
| 400 metres hurdles | Ondina Rodríguez Ecuador | 60.0 A | Martha González Ecuador | 65.6 A | Minerva Navarrete Chile | |
| 4 x 100 metres relay | Ecuador Sulay Nazareno Ondina Rodríguez Maritza Valencia Ana Caicedo | 45.9 A | Colombia María Quiñones Felipa Palacios Zorobabelia Córdoba Sabina Moya | 46.6 A | Chile Minerva Navarrete María Isabel Coloma Hannelore Grosser Lisette Rondón | 53.0 A |
| 4 x 400 metres relay | Ecuador Mercy Colorado Ondina Rodríguez Sulay Nazareno Maritza Quiñónez | 3:44.12 A | Chile | | Colombia$^†$ | |
| 10 Kilometres Walk | Bertha Vera Ecuador | 47:59.2 A GR | Geovana Irusta Bolivia | 48:22.0 A | Miriam Ramón Ecuador | 48:30.0 A |
| High Jump | Solange Witteveen Argentina | 1.75 A =GR | Paula Palma Chile | 1.45 A | Paola Ruiz Ecuador | 1.40 A |
| Pole Vault | Alejandra García Argentina | 4.05 A GR | Déborah Gyurcsek Uruguay | 4.00 A | Irina Castillo Peru | 3.30 A |
| Long Jump | Mónica Falcioni Uruguay | 6.47 A | Andrea Ávila Argentina | 6.36 A | Ana Caicedo Ecuador | 6.05 A |
| Triple Jump | Andrea Ávila Argentina | 13.60 A GR | Mónica Falcioni Uruguay | 13.55 A | Ana Gabriela Villacís Ecuador | 11.90 A |
| Shot Put | Zorobabelia Córdoba Colombia | 13.92 A | Karina Díaz Ecuador | 12.26 A | Paula Palma Chile | 11.84 A |
| Discus Throw | María Eugenia Villamizar Colombia | 41.00 A | Karina Córdova Ecuador | 38.26 A | Karina Díaz Ecuador | 36.64 A |
| Hammer Throw | María Eugenia Villamizar Colombia | 57.84 A GR | Ana Cuastumal Ecuador | 50.00 A | Karina Córdova Ecuador | 48.93 A |
| Javelin Throw | Sabina Moya Colombia | 54.08 A | Daniela Masoli Chile | 47.64 A | Paula Palma Chile | 46.30 A |
| Heptathlon | Zorobabelia Córdoba Colombia | 4868 A | Minerva Navarrete Chile | 4604 A | Dolores Martínez Ecuador | 3305 A |

#### Notes

$^†$: No medal because of lack of minimum participation.

## Medal table (unofficial)

* Host nation (Ecuador)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Ecuador*† | 16 | 16 | 20 | 52 |
| 2 | Colombia | 12 | 5 | 2 | 19 |
| 3 | Chile | 7 | 12 | 9 | 28 |
| 4 | Argentina | 7 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | Peru | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 |
| 6 | Uruguay | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | Paraguay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Bolivia | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Totals (8 entries) | Totals (8 entries) | 45 | 45 | 42 | 132 |