Argentina’s first gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics is a reality. José “Maligno” Torres claimed the honor and took the highest step of the podium in the BMX Freestyle tournament.
Torres, who was born in Bolivia to Argentine parents and moved to Córdoba at age 11, put on a top display in his first run. With a score of 94.82, he took the lead in the rankings and never looked back.
“Since I got here, I was worried, because I knew there’s no bigger stage than this,” Torres told sports outlet TyC after the event. “So I knew if I had to die somewhere, it would be here.”
The Argentine admitted that after his strong initial showing and seeing the other athletes routines, he slowly realized he was going to get gold.
“I still can’t believe what is happening; I’m holding all the emotions in,” he said. He went on to recount his first steps in the sport, starting off during his school days at Cordoba’s Parque de las Naciones.
“The ramps there weren’t great, but it was all we had and we had to make the best of it,” he explained, adding that seeing all the athletes made him understand the sacrifices they must’ve have done.
“The people should know that everything I do, all of my work, is to give back some joy.”
Leonas book quarters spot, volleyball sees chances reduced
Earlier in the day, Las Leonas secured their spot in the women’s hockey quarterfinals by beating Spain 2-1, with goals by Agustina Gorzelany and Eugenia Trinchinetti.
Romina Biagioli, from Córdoba, placed 47th in the triathlon with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 36 seconds.
Swimmer Macarena Ceballos was unable to advance to the 200m breaststroke semi finals, finishing seventh in her round and 18th overal, with a time of 2m26s55.
In rowing duo Sonia Baluzzo and Evelyn Silvestro, as well as Alejandro Colomino and Pedro Dickson were eliminated after making history in both lightweight double-scull categories by reaching their first ever semifinals.
Argentine top-ranked tennis player Sebastián Báez fell to Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-1, leaving Francisco Cerúndolo as the sole Argentine representative.
In archery, Damián Jajarabilla fell in the round of 32 against Sadikov Amirkhon by 6-2.
The Argentine volleyball team lost 3-1 to Japan, and will need some luck to make it into the quarterfinals. The Albiceleste now needs to beat Germany 3-1 or better and wait for the results of the other two zones, as the two best third-placed teams will also qualify for the final round.
Tuesday’s results
The Argentine men’s national team secured a quarterfinals spot, beating Ukraine 2-0 with goals by Thiago Almada and Claudio Echeverri. However, it wasn’t enough for the Albiceleste to claim top spot in the group, due to Morocco’s 3-0 win against Iraq.
Argentina will now face Group A winner France, a duel that is bound to prove a tense affair, following the Albiceleste’s Qatar 2022 win against Les Bleus and the racism incident after the 2024 Copa América.
The men’s field hockey gave a big boost to its qualification chances by beating New Zealand 2-0, with goals by Tomás Domene and Lucas Martínez. The Leones could potentially seal their ticket to the quarterfinals if they beat Ireland on Thursday.
It wasn’t a strong showing for Argentine tennis players. Mariano Navone fell 7-6, 6-3 against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, while the duo of Lourdes Carlé and Nadia Podoroska lost to eighth-seeded Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa of Spain by 6-3, 6-4. Earlier, Podorsoka also lost in the mixed doubles with Maximo Gonzalez against the U.S. duo Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff by 6-1, 6-7 and 10-5 in the first round.