Pan American Games | Day 11 - As it happened
Highlights, results, and all the fun and Games from the eleventh day of medal events on Monday 5th August at the Pan American Games in Lima.
Pan American Games 2019 highlights
Day 11 highlights included a new Pan American record set by Brazil's 4x100 relay team which meant they beat Nathan Adrian's USA, the two fastest women in the world decided to troll live bloggers by switching places at the last minute, and the British Virgin Islands (Population 32,000) winning their first ever medal - a gold one too!
Tuesday 6th August was the 11th day of medals in Peru.
Scroll down to find out how it all happened.
Live Blog - Tuesday 6th August
11:40pm - Nathan Adrian speaks after relay silver
Olympic Channel was there to hear what Adrian had to say after the race, he laughed off a suggestion the loss could be put down to tiredness or jet-lag after the trip from Korea at the recent Gwangju Worlds.
"You can ask the Brazilians that too," he laughed, "ya, of course we're tired, but that's excitement, you don't feel tired when you're in a race."
Was it fitness then?
"We're not where I would want to be," said Adrian, "last year when I qualified for this event I wanted to come down here and win a bunch of medals, I wanted to go 47-low in the hundred freestlyle, but things have changed since then, of course."
Adrian is back in the pool after a battle with testicular cancer.
"I'm happy to be here, I'm happy to be competing, this is home for me, this is where I'm happy, coming away with a silver medal is pretty solid."
Before the men's 4x100 free the U.S. women won gold in their relay.
"We've had a good start for Team USA and we'll just ride this momentum and try to build on it."
Adrian said that he's been though the Olympic cycles before and that things can change a lot in a year:
"Come this Fall we'll all be training our butts off and people who are on top of their game this year are gonna be, not good next year and people who are not performing this year are gonna win medals next year, that's just how it goes."
He also said that the Pan Ams were the best possible way to prepare for the Olympics:
"This is the best practice you'll ever have for an Olympic Games, it's a Village experience, you're eating at a dining hall, you have all the other sports, I've never been to the Pan Ams and this is the closest I've ever been to the Olympics without being there."
So what's changed for Adrian after the cancer diagnosis and two surgeries?
"It's changed a lot," he laughs, "I mean, perspective is huge, I've talked about it a lot but understanding the... while I dream, I eat, I sleep winning medals, at the end of the day there are other things that are equally as, or more important in my life.
"I had a very real and good realisation of that and I'm happy that it happened when I'm 30 and not further down the line."
11:14pm - "Last night? I won't lie, I watched Avengers: Endgame"
Delfina Pignatiello spoke after winning the gold medal in the women's 400m freestyle at the Centro Aquatico on Tuesday.
"It's one more step toward achieving my Olympic dream, " said the Argentinian who swam a time of 4 minutes, 10.86 seconds in the final:
“I have had better times, but in these tournaments the times are not the only thing you're looking at.
"You want to win the medal, and that is what I did. I am very happy about it.”
Her strategy for the final was simple:
"Go for it, have fun, and win."
When asked what she did before the race, she didn't lie!
"I listened to music, watched videos of swimmers like Michael Phelps and last night, I won't lie, I watched Avengers: Endgame.”
10:52pm - Brazil break 4x100 record!
Brazil win it and break a Pan Am record in the process!
The quartet of Breno Correia, Marcelo Chierighini, Bruno Fratus and Pedro Spajari top the podium with a history making swim.
Their time of 3:12.61 lowered the previous mark of 3:13.66 set at the 2015 Games in Toronto also by a Brazilian team composed of Fratus, Chierighini, Matheus Santana and Joao De Lucca.
USA and Nathan Adrian finished second, Mexico third.
- Brazil 3:12.61
- USA 3:14.94
- Mexico 3:17.70
Brilliant from the Brazilians who led from the first match-up.
MEMES!
Memes have been filling the internets in Peru, particularly on Day 1 when Gladys Tejeda won the women's marathon and when Peru won three surfing gold medals on Sunday 4th August - Day 9.
Here are a few, enjoy!
10:47pm - Men's 4x100m relay
Here they come.
Big shout again for Peru, and a relatively big one too for USA and Nathan Adrian.
The lanes are: 1. Panama, 2. Argentina, 3. Mexico, 4. Brazil, 5. USA, 6. Colombia, 7. Bahamas, 8. Peru
And they're off, Chadwick goes first for the USA, can they sweep the relays tonight?
Brazil fastest in the first leg.
10:44pm - The medal ceremony
The Hino Nacional Brasileiro (Brazil's national anthem) sounds out as Leonardo Gomes de Deus is presented with his shiny prize.
Great moment for him.
Shazam tells me the song playing now is: '1, 2, 3' by Sofia Reyes featuring Jason Derulo & De La Ghetto.
It's a good 'un.
10:35pm - USA win women's relay
It looked close until Lia Neal got in the water.
The London 2012 bronze and Rio 2016 silver medallist brought it home with a very strong swim.
It finished:
- USA 3:39.59
- Brazil 3:40.39
- Canada 3:41.01
The gold medal winning team is Margo Geer, Claire Rasmus, Meaghan Raab, and Lia Neal.
10:32pm - Brazil lead
Brazil lead the women's relay as the third swimmers launches into the water.
Colombia and USA within reach, this will be close.
Lia Neal killing it!
U.S. into first!
22:26pm - Women's 4x100m free relay next up
Danza da Manivela by Axe Bahia is keeping us entertained meanwhile.
We had a Snoop Dog track too, Olympic Channel would have gotten its crunk on if there wasn't so much typing to do.
The Peru's relay team gets a huge welcome.
There are 8 teams involved here: from lane 1 counting up it's: Peru, Mexico, Brazil, USA, Canada, Venezuela, Bahamas, Panama.
The Canada and United States women's squads are both without their medalists from the FINA 2019 World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, in July.
But the USA still have double Olympic medalist Lia Neal who's racing last here.
10:05pm - Men's 200m butterfly
Two Peruvian swimmers in this B race, but they don't win and the volume isn't quite as loud.
We do get to hear 'Cariñito´by Bareto which you never hear enough times.
Close finish but gold goes to Brazil in the A race!
- Leonardo Gomes de Deus (BRA) 1:55.86
- Samuel Pomajevich (USA) 1:57.35
- Jonathan Gomez (COL) 1:57.75
They swam to another Daddy Yankee hit, slightly more recent this one: 'Con Calma' which features Katy Perry and Snow of 1992 'Informer' song fame.
Decent song, but give me the original any day.
9:58pm - Women's 200m Butterfly
Another golden moment for Argentina!
Daddy Yankee probably had nothing to do with it but Virginia Bardach has the most gasolina in that race, she led at halfway and never let go.
Silver for Canada, bronze for the U.S.
Results:
- Virginia Bardach (ARG) 2:10.87
- Mary-Sophie Harvey (CAN) 2:11.68
- Meghan Small (USA) 2:12.51
9:51pm - Swim to that rhythm!
It's another packed house at the Aquatics Centre in Lima, and Peru have won this race!
The crowd roared Peru's Silvana Cabrera home in the women's 200m butterfly 'B' final.
There's no medal for Peru's winner but it feels like one here in the stadium!
Lovely moment for the locals.
In each race there's quiet for the start but as soon as the swimmers hit the water the music starts pumping!
We've had PitBull, Gente de Zona's 'La Gozadera', La Macarena, and many more Latino classics... The women's 200m butterfly medal final is on and we've got Daddy Yankee's 'Gasolina' pumping!
'Me gusta la gasolina.. dale mas gasolina!'
9:40pm - 100m breastrokes to Brazil &USA
100m breastroke men's and women's events go to the United States of America and Brazil.
They finished:
Women's
- Anne Lazor (USA) 106.94
- Julia Sebastian (ARG) 1:07.09
- Faith Knelson (CAN) 1:07.42
Men's
- Joao Luis Jr. (BRA) 59.51
- Cody Miller (USA) 59:57
- Kevin Cordes (USA) 1:00.27
9:23pm - Nathan Adrian: 'Shark 2.0'
Adrian will take part in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay in tonight's grand finale, scheduled for 10:33pm.
He made the front of today's daily Lima Games paper, the headline reads: Shark 2.0
"Here come the swim superstars," reads the sub, "5-time Olympic champion Nathan Adrian - successor to the 'shark' Phelps is just one of the big attractions in Lima 2019's final stretch."
The five-time Olympic Games gold medalist made his comeback at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju after two surgeries for testicular cancer.
In Korea he anchored the United States 4x100m freestyle relay team to gold , South Korea in July.
But Lima 2019 will be his first major individual championships since the cancer diagnosis as he lines-up in the 50m and 100m freestyle where he faces tough Brazilian opposition.
"It was a shock when I was told the diagnosis,” 30-year-old Adrian said. “I was fit and healthy and you’re wondering how could this happen to me. But I knew there was something wrong and I knew I had to get it checked out quickly.
“I am different as I’m missing an entire organ and lymph nodes and the surgeons had to cut through my abdominal wall. Swimming has been vital in my recovery and I’ve worked hard to get back into shape."
9:15pm - Swimming: Men's 400m gold is USA's
The men's 400m freestyle gold medal belongs to Andrew Abruzzo from the U.S., Brazil take silver and bronze.
It finished:
- Andrew Abruzzo (USA) 3:48.41
- Fernando Muhlenberg Scheffer (BRA) 3:49.60
- Luiz Altamir Lopes Melo (BRA) 3:49.91
9:14pm - For you up there!
8:48pm - Swimming: Delfina Pignatiello wins 400m gold!
The 19-year-old Argentinian double YOG silver medallist once again proves her potential, a fine swim gives her gold.
Here's how it finished:
- Delfina Pignatiello (ARG) 4:10.86
- Danica Ludlow (CAN) 4:11.97
- Alyson Ackman (CAN) 4:12.05
Pignatiello was in tears on the podium in Buenos Aires and dedicated the win to her grandmother, now she's changed coach and is looking every bit the world-beater with every meet the passes.
8:20pm - Men's 5000m gold is Mexico's!
Mexico's Fernando Martinez Estrada claims 5,000m gold in a time of 13:53.87.
A close second was Altobeli da Silva from Brazil who went 13:54.42.
Chilean Carlos Diaz takes home bronze, finishing 0.01 of a second behind the Brazilian.
8pm - Fencing: Stone Gold
Anne-Elizabeth, or as most know her , Eliza Stone has won gold in the fencing sabre competition.
The 2018 Word Fencing Championships bronze medallist is on the top of the podium today.
Argentina's Maria Belen Perez Maurice settles for silver.
It finished 15-13.
7:45pm - First ever medal for the British Virgin Islands!
Chantel Malone has won the first ever gold medal for the British Virgin Islands in long jump.
She jumped 6.68 metres.
The British Virgin Islands has a population of just over 30 thousand people, has competed in nine Pan Am Games and is on the podium for the first time thanks to Malone.
She is the first medallist from the British Virgin Islands at the Pan American Games.
U.S. takes silver, Keturah Orji jumped 6.66m and Jamaica's Tissanna Hickling bags bronze after her 6.59m leap.
7:30pm - Discus: A women's Pan Am record too!
Cuba's Yaime Perez will bring home a gold medal after her 66.58m cast, breaking another Pan American record!
Andressa Oliveira De Morais from Brazil look a dead cert to top the podium after her 65.98m launch led from the second round, but she'll have to settle for silver.
Bronze goes to Brazil too: Fernanda Borges completed the podium on 62.23m.
6:45pm - Gymnastics
Missing gymnastics?
Olympic Channel's got ya covered:
6:14pm - "A turning point for Peruvian sport"
When Benoit 'El Piccolo' Clemente won surf gold on Sunday, an entire country celebrated, and he talked about the impact the Lima 2019 Games can have.
Peru's sports daily newspaper Todo Sport (All Sport, or everything in sport) gave him the front page and the middle page spead.
'This is Historic' says the headline, "'Piccolo' Clemente says Pan American Games is a turning point for Peruvian sport, marking a before and after."
In the centre page spread Clemente says "I believe these Games, despite the criticism, will mark a before and after moment not just in surfing, but in many more sports, which will grab people's attention and get a lot more support from the public."
He dedicated his gold medal to his wife Maria Jose, for "the support she gives me, we've been together for 17 years, she was cheering in the stands with my son which makes this mean all the more."
He also explained the meaning of his nickname 'Piccolo' - "Piccolo is the name of my father's restaurant in Huanchaco, in Italian it means 'little boy' and they used to call him that. When I grew up I inherited it."
5:38pm - Men's 100m qualifiers
The fastest man over 100m in the semi-finals was Brazilian Rodrigo Pereira Do Nascimiento who clocked 10.27secs.
USA's Michael Rodgers was second in 10.29.
That was the second of three semi-finals, in the first Antigua's Cejhae Greene took top spot with a 10.31s sprint, second was USA's Crayvon Gillespie who ran 10.32.
Brazil's Paulo Andre Camilo de Oliveira won the third semi-final with 10.29, Rasheed Dwyer quailfied with 10.32.
Jason Alston and Keston Bledman qualify as fastest losers.
5:40pm - Why did Thompson and Fraser/Pryce switch?
Jamaican mind games?
Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce changed it up in Lima when they made a late decision to switch events.
Both are heavily tipped to win 100m and 200m gold.
Thompson was originally down to run the 200m and surprised a few people in the stadium when she showed up on the 100m starting line.
Fraser-Pryce is now due to run the half-lap semifinals on Thursday.
The decision was made by the two fastest women in the world, as explained by Jamaican chef de mission Rudolph SPEID:
“They are two of our top athletes so if they want to switch it’s OK with us,” Speid said. “Shelly-Ann and Elaine are both looking at what they need for their own development at this stage of the season.
“These things are always a team decision but it was the athletes who requested the switch. Elaine thinks she needs more speed work, and Shelly-Ann wants to work on endurance.”
They are due to team up to run the women’s 4x100m relay where Jamaica will be hot favorites.
Speid also explained why Briana Williams didn't run the 100m:
“Briana is here but we have decided to rest her,” Speid said. “She is only 17 and after running the junior Pans is a bit overworked. She may run the relay.”
4:59pm - Women's 100m qualifiers
Olympic champion Thompson was the fastest qualifier for the women's 100m final, finishing in 11.36sec.
Thompson was entered to run the 200m but switched up with Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce last minute.
Thompson crossed the line first in 11.36 in the second semi-final.
Brazil’s Vitoria Cristina Rosa came second in 11.40.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Kelly-Ann Baptiste, the 100m bronze medallist at the 2011 World Championships is third in 11.49.
The first semi-final saw Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye cross the line fastest in 11:37, followed by another Jamaican star-in-the-making Natasha Morrison, she ran 11.59.
Canada’s Crystal Emmanuel finished fastest in the other semi-final in 11.48, just, with Colombia's Angela Tenorio finishing 0.01s behind her.
The United States’ Twanisha Terry and Kelly-Ann Baptiste also qualify as the fastest losers.
The men's and women's 100m finals are tomorrow Wednesday 7 July.
4:39pm - Briana Williams won't race 100m
Jamaica's star in the waiting Briana Williams will not race the 100m here in Lima, she's being rested after winning gold and silver at the Pan Am Juniors recently.
Running with her left hamstring taped, and a sore ankle, Williams ran 11.38 to win 100m gold and later added relay silver.
After that win at the Costa Rica Pan Am Juniors, she announced the end of her junior career on Facebook:
“Tonight I ran my last race as a junior for Jamaica,” said Williams who won the sprint double at the 2018 U20 World Championships in Tampere, Finland.
“It’s time for me to step aside and allow the next generation of Jamaican girls to represent the black, green and gold at the junior level as I transition exclusively to the seniors. I’m grateful to all of you who have made me feel so welcome as a Jamaican ambassador and athlete.”
Find out more about the 17-year-old sensation and the time she met Usain Bolt here:
4:20pm - Discus: Pan Am record!
We have a Pan American record in the men's discus throwing event.
Jamaica's Andre Dacres has just hurled the disc 67.68m breaking the previous Pan American record.
That surely means gold.
And it could be a Jamaican 1-2, Traves Smikle is in second having thrown a 65.02, USA's Reginald Jagers III is third with a 64.48 best effort.
And that's how it finishes!
- Andre Dacres (JAM) 67.88
- Traves Smikle (JAM) 65.02
- Reginald Jagers III (USA) 64.48
3:47pm - Women's basketball: Brazil stun Canada
The women's basketball tournament got underway earlier and we already have our first upset!
Brazil defeating reigning Pan Am champs Canada 79-71.
Before the tournament Canada coach Steve Baur said defence would be key, but Brazil found the way through, Patricia Teixeira leading the scoring with 14.
Puerto Rico started well too defeating Paraguay.
Puerto Rico 91-73 Paraguay
At 6pm Colombia-Virgin Islands play their first group game and after that at 9pm it's a tasty encounter:
USA-Argentina
One player the Argentines will have to stop is three-point shooting sensation Taylor Mikesell (USA), who last season set a record at the University of Maryland with 95 three-point baskets.
“The USA is the team to beat. They are always the team to beat," Steve Baur
- Canada coach
The field for the Lima 2019 Games includes the top seven teams from the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup 2017 – Canada, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Virgin Islands, Paraguay and Colombia.
Canada is in Group A with Brazil, Paraguay and Puerto Rico. The USA, Argentina, Colombia and the Virgin Islands are in Group B.
“Some of the teams have brought their best players and that is an exciting challenge for us. I think we will be right in the mix,’’ Baur said.
The team will play five games in five nights to mine Pan American gold.
3:38pm - Eve Jobs in 6th
Eve Jobs was in equestrian action today, she finished 6th in the jumping individual 1st qualifier on horse Venue D'Fees Des Hazalles.
Her U.S. teammate, two-time Olympic gold medallist Elisabeth 'Beezie' Madden leads qualification with a time of 68.82, Mexico's Patricio Quintana is second after completing in 69.39.
Jobs' time was 71.16.
3:11pm - Fencing: Quarter-finalists
Fencing quarter finals were this morning, the men's foil competition is heating up and we have our last 8 men standing:
Team USA' team foil world champion Race Imoden faces Canada’s Eli Schenkel, and another U.S. fencer Gerek Meinhardt is up against Augusto Servello.
Colombia’s Daniel Sconzo and Chile’s Gustavo Alarcon fence off in another quarter-final, and Canada’s Maximilian Van Haaster meets Carlos Rodriquez from Puerto Rico in the last eight.
The women's sabre event also has its quarter-finalists set.
It's another Latin American derby as neighbours Venezuela and Colombia meet, Venezuela's Alejandra Romero is through to face Maria Blanco from Colombia.
Canada’s Gabriella Page vs. Panama’s Eileen Grench and Cuba’s Aymara Pimienta v Argentina’s Maria Perez will give us two more semi-finalists.
And the United States’ Anne-Elizabeth Stone against Maria Perroni from Argentina completes the quarter-final line-up.
The men's final is at 6:10pm and the women's at 6:45pm later today.
3:09pm - A pick of the pics from yesterday
2:15pm - Golf
Golf at the 2019 Pan American Games tees off on Thursday at the Campo de Golf, Lima Golf Club from August 8-11.
Here are some facts and figures to get you in the mood:
4,369 – Meters above sea level, the altitude of the now closed Tactu Golf Club, once the highest golf course in the world, located in Morococha, Peru
2015 – Year golf made its debut at the Pan American Games
2,000 – Calories burned off by an average golfer who walks rather than carts between 18 holes
1971 – Year golf was played on the moon as USA astronaut Alan SHEPARD sent the ball flying through the moon’s low-gravity atmosphere with a makeshift six-iron
1924 – Year the Lima Golf Course opened to the public
1920s – Decade when golfers started to use tees instead of shaping sand mounds on which to place the golf balls
300 – Approximate years for how long golf was banned, on and off, in Scotland because the government deemed it a distraction from the men’s military training
80 – Percent of golfers whose handicap will never be less than 18
71 – Par value of the Lima Golf Course, the only course in Peru that is par-71
64 – Athletes taking part in the golf competition at Lima 2019
15 – Century when modern day golf was invented in Scotland
3 – Sets of medals to be awarded, in the individual men’s and women’s, as well as mixed team events at Lima 2019
2 – Gold medals Colombian golfers, Marcelo Rozo and Mariajo Uribe, won at Toronto 2015, thus sweeping the individual and mixed team events
1 – In 67 million, the chances of making two holes-in-one in a single round of golf
1:30pm - Team USA enjoying themselves!
1:02pm - Pan Am Pile-on!
Argentina celebrated in a way that only Argentina can after the beat Chile 31-27 in the handball final last night.
12:54pm - Table tennis: Wang and Zhang win gold
Canada clinched the first table tennis gold medal of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games on Monday evening, when Eugene Wang and Mo Zhang cruised to a 4-1 victory in the mixed doubles.
The Canadian pair had too much craft for their Brazilian opponents Gustavo Tsuboi and Bruna Takahashi across a closely fought 50-minute match, which finished 12-10, 15-13, 6-11, 11-7, 12-10.
The victory was a return to the Pan Am podium for both of Canada's team.
Wang picked up two bronze medals at the Toronto 2015 Games – in men's singles and men's team – while ZHANG was the gold medalist in women's singles at the Guadalajara 2011 Games and settled for a bronze in women's team four years ago.
"I think the key reason we won was because of the effort we deliver," WANG said. "I am happy with the result."
Table tennis competition continues on Tuesday with men's and women's singles knockout matches and the finals of the women's doubles and men's doubles.
12:45pm - Athletics: Miller-Uibo and Gardiner withdraw
Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas have withdrawn from the Pan American Games.
Miller-Uibo is the reigning women's 400m Olympic champion and will not compete at Lima 2019 "because of other commitments says her coach.
Gardiner, a silver medallist in the men's 400m at the 2017 London Worlds, was expected to run both 400 and 200m races.
Bahamas head coach Rudolf Ferguson confirmed the news.
“We would certainly like them to be here but unfortunately because of other commitments, some of them personal, they are not coming,” he said.
“You can’t replace a Steven Gardiner or Shaunae Miller-Uibo, they are world class in their events.
“But, on the other hand, I’m so excited about working with this young team of talented athletes we have coming through here that I can’t really say I’m disappointed.”
12pm - Argentina's Delfina Pignatiello
Double Youth Olympic Games silver medallist swimmer Delfina Pignatiello is here in Lima and ready to make her first big senior statement.
After a change of coach and setting two South American records in the pool, the 19-year-old has her sights firmly set on bigger things.
Watch her emotional tribute to her grandmother on the podium at Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games and how things have changed dramatically for the 19-year-old since then.
11:20am - Jennifer willing and Abel
She bounced back from disappointment at the Worlds to claim gold at the Pan Am Games and now Canada's dive star Jennifer Abel believes again.
Here's her story:
10:45am - Peru invented surfing?
Did Peru invent surfing?
Hawaii claims to be the cradle of surfing but Peru has a good claim too.
We went to the beach near Lima to find out what they say here in Peru!
What to watch out for on Day 11
Athletics will light up Lima on Tuesday, with golden Olympic stardust sprinkled over many events.
Day 11 Athletics schedule
100m action begins at 2pm with the decathlon heats, then the 100m men's and women's semi-finals, gold medals are on the line in these events:
- Men's discus (3:30pm)
- Women's 10,000m (5:25pm)
- Women's long jump final (5:30pm)
- Women's discus (6:25pm)
- Men's 500m (6:45pm)
All track and field events will be held at Estadio Atletico on 6-10 August, scroll down for athletics previews.
Swimming also makes its Lima 2019 debut, here's what we have to look forward to, scroll down for a full preview:
Day 11 Swimming Schedule
From a little after 8:30pm (These are the medal races, there will be 'B' races before each)
- Women's 400m freestyle final
- Men's 400m freestyle final
- Women's 100m breaststroke final
- Men's 100m breaststroke final
- Women's 200m Butterfly final
- Men's 200m Butterfly final
- Women's 4x100m freestyle relay final
- Men's 4x100m freestyle relay final
In other sports, women's individual sabre and men's individual foil gold medals will be won, racquetball doubles semi-finals happen in the evening, men's and women's table tennis finals are on - the women's at 7pm, the men's at 8pm.
Rowing, sailing and softball all continue their build up to medal events on Tuesday too.
Men's Swimming: Nathan Adrian's post-cancer Pan Am debut
Nathan Adrian (USA) will make his Pan American Games debut at Lima 2019 just seven months after being told he had testicular cancer.
The five-time Olympic Games gold medalist made his comeback after two surgeries by anchoring the United States 4x100m freestyle relay team to gold at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in July.
But Lima 2019 will be his first major individual championships since the cancer diagnosis as he lines-up in the 50m and 100m freestyle where he faces tough Brazilian opposition.
"It was a shock when I was told the diagnosis,” 30-year-old Adrian said. “I was fit and healthy and you’re wondering how could this happen to me. But I knew there was something wrong and I knew I had to get it checked out quickly.
“I am different as I’m missing an entire organ and lymph nodes and the surgeons had to cut through my abdominal wall. Swimming has been vital in my recovery and I’ve worked hard to get back into shape.
“The training has also helped me cope with the nervousness and anxiety of cancer. My goal for 2020 has not changed and I still want to make it to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“Things may have changed how I get there, but what I need is competition. That is what I have been missing. The more races I can get, the more normal it will feel.”
Bruno Fratus (Brazil) looks to be the man to beat in the 50m freestyle after he finished second in July’s world championships in South Korea to Caeleb Dressel (USA) who is not in the United States squad for Lima 2019.
In the 100m free, the Brazilian duo of Marcelo Chierghini and Breno Correia, fifth and eighth at the worlds, will also have the race sharpness Adrian is lacking.
But the Adrian is not the only Olympic gold medalist in the US men’s squad at the Pan Americans, with Gunnar Bentz, Kevin Cordes, Cody Milller and Tom Shields all scheduled to race.
Bentz won two medals at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and went on to take gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Cordes picked up a medley relay gold in Rio with Shields and Miller, who also won bronze in the 100m breaststroke.
Brazil’s Guilherme Guido will be looking to follow-up his seventh place at the worlds with gold in the 100m backstroke as will 200m butterfly finalist Leonardo De Deus (Brazil).
The swimming competition runs from 6-10 August at the Centro Aquatico, Villa Deportivo Nacional - Videna.
Swimming: Women's preview
Canada's Ackman and Savard out to be comeback queens in the pool
Canada swim duo Alyson Ackman and Katerine Savard are aiming to be the comeback queens of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.
The duo admit they fell out of love with the sport for different reasons, but have come out of retirement and are raring to hit the pool at the Centro Aquatico, Villa Deportivo Nacional - Videna when the action starts on 6 August.
“I retired after the Olympic trials [in 2016]. I’m glad I stopped swimming because I think it was healthy for me,” said Ackman, who is entered in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle events and the relays.
“I didn’t even decide to retire really, I just didn’t go back to practice. I watched the [Rio 2016] Olympics with my mom and that was really hard for us. It was just both of us on the couch crying.”
Ackman got married, moved to the United States and started coaching in Philadelphia before she was urged to get back into the water by her fellow coaches.
The 26-year-old added: “I realized I still loved the sport and had to get over that and start to heal again.
“I went up to them and said ‘do you think it’s actually possible and would you guys be willing to train me and take me on. Will I be able to work, will I be able to coach still?’. I wasn’t going to just kind of do it, if I’m doing it I’m gonna do it [properly].”
Savard, scheduled for the 200m freestyle and relay events, has also returned to competitive swimming having rediscovered her love for the pool.
“I took five months off last year. I was just sick of swimming,” said the 26-year-old.
“The coach of the university team came to me and said ‘why are you not coming with us just for fun or representing the university’. I changed my coach, changed my group, changed my pool and everything to get back my love of swimming.”
The Canada and United States women's squads are both without their medalists from the FINA 2019 World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, in July.
But the USA still have double Olympic medalist Lia Neal in their squad while veteran two-time Pan American Games medalist Madison Kennedy is also racing.
Women's Track Preview: Jamaica’s ‘Pocket Rocket’ fit and firing
When you’ve been called "the greatest female sprinter of all time" by one of the greatest male athletes in history, it would be easy to think you have nothing left to prove.
But Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is not the type of athlete to rest on her laurels.
With two Olympic and seven world titles to her name, the Jamaican is one of the most decorated sprinters in history and worthy of legendary US athlete Michael Johnson's "greatest" tag.
Yet there is one obvious gap on her honors board, one she intends to fill when she goes for gold in the women’s 100m at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games on 7 August.
She comes to Lima for her first Pan American Games as one of the biggest stars among a glittering array of women’s sprinters who are set to light up Estadio Atletico, Villa Deportivo Nacional – Videna, over five days from 6-10 August.
After two years out of the spotlight to give birth to her first child, Zyon, the so-called ‘Pocket Rocket’ (she is just 1.52 meters tall) is back to her best at the age of 32 with seven sub-11 second 100m times this season.
The quickest of those was a 2019 world lead of 10.73 at her national championships in June when she was beaten in a photo finish by Elaine Thompson, the woman who succeeded her as Olympic 100m champion at the Rio 2016 Games.
Thompson went on to complete the sprint double in Rio and will be favorite in the half-lap race here, at which she is also the quickest in the world this season.
Alongside the two tried and tested champions is 17-year-old Briana Williams, the new kid on the Jamaican blocks.
Jamaica has its eyes on medals in the 400m too, through 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Shericka Jackson, while world champion Kori Carter (USA) is the pick of the 400m hurdles field.
Her team-mate, Sharika Nelvis (USA), heads the line-up in the women’s 100m hurdles, while Puerto Rico hopes to get on the medal table through last year’s US collegiate champion, Jasmine Quinn.
Unlike the sprints, big names are largely absent from the women’s distance events.
Former Central American champion Natoya Goule (Jamaica) looks set to battle with Cuba’s Rose Blanco in the 800m, while the longer races should be a series of all-North American tussles.
Argentina’s main medal hope is Belen Cassetta in the 3000m steeplechase.
The South American record holder was a world finalist in 2017 and took silvers at the South American championships and World University Games this year.
Women’s field preview: Ibarguen v Rojas
Round 15 for Caterine Ibarguen (Colombia) and Yulimar Rojas (Venezuela) as triple jump rivalry resumes in Lima
A new chapter in one of the fiercest rivalries in world athletics will be written at the Estadio Atletico, Villa Deportivo Nacional – Videna, on 9 August when Ibarguen and Rojas go head-to-head for triple jump gold at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.
Ibarguen was the undisputed queen of the sandpit for nearly five years between 2012 and 2017, going undefeated for 34 contests in a row. During that streak she claimed two world titles and the Rio 2016 Olympic gold, and retained her 2011 Pan American Games crown at Toronto 2015.
Then along came Rojas from neighbouring Venezuela to hop, step and leap into the triple jump reckoning.
At 23, she is 12 years younger than her Colombian opponent, but Rojas showed little deference as she began an assault on Ibarguen's throne.
When Rojas beat Ibarguen at the Rome Diamond League in June 2017, it was the Colombian’s first loss since the London 2012 Olympic final. The Venezuelan went on to defeat her again at the London 2017 World Championships that August, and the following March took the world indoor crown in Birmingham.
This season it is Rojas who has her nose in front, her national record of 15.06 meters putting her on top of the global standings with Ibarguen second, her 2019 best just 17 centimeters short.
In total, the pair have met 14 times over the last two years, with Ibarguen winning 10 to Rojas’ four.
It’s not just the two big names which make the women’s triple jump one of the stand-out events of the athletics program.
The world’s third, fourth and eighth best jumpers this year are also in the line-up – Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts, Liadagmis Povea of Cuba and Rocketts' team-mate Kim Williams respectively.
Ibarguen may be 35 but there is no limit to her ambition. As well as her third successive triple jump title, she is also targeting gold in the women’s long jump.
Enticing battles are in prospect in other women’s field events too.
Defending champion Cleopatra Borel (Trinidad & Tobago) faces Commonwealth Games champion Danniel Thomas (Jamaica) in the shot; Cuba’s former world champion Denia Caballero clashes with team-mate Yaime Perez in the discus; and Canada’s Liz Gleadle defends her javelin crown against Toronto 2015 silver medalist Kara Winger (USA).
Yarisley Silva (CUB) seeks her third consecutive Pan American Games title in the pole vault while reigning champion Levern Spencer is St Lucia’s big hope for gold in the high jump against Colombia’s three-time South American champion Maria Murillo.
Men’s track preview: Rodgers for 100m gold?
The USA's Mike Rodgers aims to make Pan American history with Games record.
When he came to set his goals for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games, this US sprinter opted to aim high.
As the fastest man in the field, it is no surprise he is targeting gold in the men’s 100m, the sport’s blue riband event, which reaches its climax at Estadio Atletico, Villa Deportivo Nacional – Videna, on the afternoon of Wednesday 7 August.
But Rodgers insists he will not be happy with a simple victory. At 34, and still without a major title to his name, he wants to leave an indelible mark on Lima 2019 by becoming the first man to break 10 seconds at a Pan American Games.
“Hopefully the conditions are good, the wind is good and I can get the Pan Am record and be the first to break 10-flat,” he said. “That’s really the goal this week.
“This is my first Pan Ams so hopefully I will leave here with two golds, in the relay and the 100m, and make a bit of history too. That would be cool.”
In the absence of Justin Gatlin, Rodgers is the elder statesman of a youthful US track and field team, with numerous major Games and championships behind him. In more than 10 years as an international, he has collected world relay and indoor silver medals, but never an individual title.
Bagging the Lima 100m would put his name in the history books alongside some of the greats of the sport, including Jamaica’s 1976 Olympic champion Don Quarrie, who won the title in Cali in 1971, and 2003 world champion Kim Collins (Saint Kitts and Nevis), who set the current record of 10.00 seconds at the Guadalajara 2011 Games.
With a personal best of 9.85, the 10-second barrier is well within reach for Rodgers, who has broken 10 every season bar two since 2008.
The battle for the 100m honors is likely to be fierce, however, with six sub-10 second men in the line-up, including Rodgers' team-mate Cravon Gillespie.
“The ideal would be me first and Cravon second, and after that I don’t even know who else is in the race,” Rodgers said.
He may not be the only man on the Lima track aiming to make history, as Steven Gardiner (Bahamas) is entered for two of the toughest track events on the five-day program.
The Bahamas sprinter could be racing five times in three days in an attempt to win the men’s 200m and 400m titles, a rare double that has been achieved by only a handful of athletes at any major championships – most notably legendary US sprinter Michael Johnson at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.
Gardiner’s task in the 200m is daunting in itself, with no fewer than eight men in the field who have run quicker than 20 seconds, while his road to gold in the 400m involves contesting the final just an hour and 20 minutes after the 200m semifinal on Thursday 8 August.
Over the longer distance he will also have to hold off US wonderkid Justin Robinson, a 17-year-old high school student who won the Pan American Games junior title in Costa Rica just a couple of weeks ago.
US athletes will feature in the middle distance races too, not least national champion Donavan Brazier, who is the pick of the field in the 800m.
Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion Kyron McMaster (British Virgin Islands) is his island nation’s best hope of track and field gold, while Jamaican pair Ronald Levy and Orlando Bennett are among the favorites in a competitive 110m hurdles line-up.
World 100m champion Justin Gatlin has withdrawn from USA’s sprint relay squad but the world silver medalists will still take some beating.
The 4x400m relay looks set to be a battle between world champions Trinidad & Tobago, USA and Bahamas.
The track and field program kicks off at Estadio Atletico on Tuesday 6 August.
Men's field preview
The last time Jeffrey Henderson (USA) competed in South America it turned out to be the greatest night of his life.
It was 13 August 2016 and long jumper Henderson produced one of the leaps of his career to win the Rio Olympic gold, his first global medal and second international title to go with one from the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
Three years later, the 30-year-old is back in South America to defend his Pan American crown at Lima 2019 when the men’s long jump final is held on 7 August, day two of the five-day track and field program.
“To be a two-time Pan Am champion would be a special thing for me, a special, special thing. It would be great to do that,” Henderson said.
“Toronto was my first big Games, my very first one so the experience was a good time for me. It holds special memories.
“The Pan Ams are very different to an Olympic Games or the US nationals. I really enjoyed it last time and wanted to come and get that feeling again.”
Henderson set his personal best of 8.52 meters to win the Toronto 2015 title and is hoping to find Pan Am springs in his heels again four years later, though he admits the 32-year-old Games record of 8.75m – set by Carl Lewis (USA) in Indianapolis, USA – may be beyond his reach.
“I never want to say how far I’m going to jump because I never do that,” he said. “It would be fun if I did break it but if not it will just be great to win again and have fun while I’m doing it.
“If things turn out the way I think they will, there should be another gold and another personal best.”
Henderson will face stiff competition from Juan Miguel Echeverria, Cuba’s 20-year-old world indoor champion who is just four centimeters adrift of the US jumper’s 2019 world leading mark of 8.38m this season.
A close contest is in prospect as Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle is also in form with 8.32m to his name this year.
Henderson is not the only jumper in Lima with golden memories of Rio.
Brazilian hero Thiago Braz produced one of the performances of the 2016 Games when he won pole vault gold deep into the Rio night three years ago.
He set a string of personal bests en route to defeating world record holder Renaud Lavillenie (France) with a South American record of 6.03m.
The 25-year-old has struggled to reach such heights since but is back to near his best in 2019, vaulting 5.92m in Monaco on 12 July.
Opposition is likely to come from Christopher Nilsen, the USA collegiate champion who has breached 5.95m this year.
A pair of powerful Jamaicans will defend their throwing titles, with former Commonwealth Games champion O’Dayne Richards favorite for the shot, and Fredrick Dacres looking to add a second Pan Am discus gold to his Commonwealth Games and Continental Cup victories from last year.
London 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (Trinidas & Tobago) defends his javelin title against Anderson Peters, Grenada’s opening ceremony flagbearer and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist.
Canada’s Mike Mason is looking to turn his Toronto silver into Lima gold in the high jump where Peru’s Arturo Chavez will be one of his chief threats, lifted, no doubt, by the home crowd support.