---
title: "Panama’s youth sports surge exposes one major gap: track and field"
date: 2026-04-28
author: ""
url: https://panamadaily.news/panama-athletics-youth-games-gap/
categories:
  - "News"
  - "Sports"
tags:
  - "Panama athletics"
  - "Panama sports development"
  - "Pandeportes"
  - "South American Youth Games"
  - "track and field"
  - "youth sports"
---

# Panama’s youth sports surge exposes one major gap: track and field

## What Happened

Panama closed the IV South American Youth Games with one of its broadest performances across the event’s program, reaching the podium in 13 of the 22 sports contested. The country finished with 29 medals in total: six gold, six silver and 17 bronze.

The results marked a new level of competitive reach for Panama in youth continental sport, with strong showings in combat sports and team events helping drive the medal count.

## Where Panama Excelled

Karate, wrestling, taekwondo and boxing led the medal haul, reinforcing the strength of Panama’s combat-sports pipeline. Team sports also delivered in a way that stands out for the country at this level, with football, futsal, baseball, flag football and 3×3 basketball all contributing medals.

That range suggests a deeper base of talent than in past editions, especially in sports that depend on group development and sustained national preparation.

## The Missing Piece: Athletics

Even with the broader success, track and field remained the clear unfinished business. Panama did not win medals in athletics, a discipline that has long carried the country’s Olympic identity through names such as Lloyd LaBeach, Irving Saladino and Alonso Edward, with current competitors including Gianna Woodruff, Chamar Chambers and Arturo Deliser.

The absence matters because athletics is not just another sport in Panama. It has historically been the country’s most visible path to international recognition, and a medal gap in that arena highlights how much rebuilding remains.

## Why It Matters

The youth results point to promise, but they also underline the structural demands of developing track and field at a high level. Athletics requires consistent planning, qualified coaching, medical support, psychological preparation and regular competition. It is not a discipline that can be lifted by short bursts of effort.

Panama’s young athletes have been competing in an environment shaped by infrastructure limitations and uneven access to training venues. Even so, they reached a continental stage and tested themselves against countries with more established systems such as Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.

## Signs of Progress Ahead

There are reasons for cautious optimism. The reopening of the Armando Dely Valdés stadium in Colón, the development of the Penonomé sports complex and the track at the national high-performance center in the capital give the sport a more solid foundation than it has had in the past.

Those facilities are a starting point rather than a finished solution, but they matter in a discipline where access to proper surfaces and training conditions can shape the next generation.

For Panama, the challenge now is to turn youth promise into a lasting athletics program. The country has talent. The next step is building the system that keeps that talent on track.