2023-11-10 05:09:28
The Chilean sprinters Poulette Cardoch and Berdine Castillo, during different competitions.RR SS / REUTERS
The sporting and social legacy after the organization of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games has been covered by the shadow of a serious accusation that shakes athletics, one of the disciplines that awarded gold medals for the Chilean delegation. The sprinters Poulette Cardoch and Berdine Castillo have accused pressure, in addition to alleged classist and racist attacks against them, to be removed from one of the event’s competitions.
The controversy began last Monday when Cardoch published a lengthy statement on your Instagram social network account. There she reported that she was removed from the final of the women’s 4 × 400 relay, in a decision that, according to her version, would have been made without sporting criteria. As an argument, the athlete showed the presentation marks that the entire team had obtained for the classification to the Pan American Games. According to this background, the complainant was third in the ranking with a time of 54.59 seconds, being surpassed only by Martina Weil (51.07) and Stephanie Saavedra (54.45). In fourth position was Berdine Castillo, who according to this parameter should enter the race, leaving Violeta Arnaiz (55.54) and Fernanda Mackenna (55.63) as substitutes. But an alleged change made by coach Marcelo Gajardo ended up leaving out Cardoch and Castillo, to include Arnaiz and Mackenna—the latter daughter of Leslie Cooper, member of the board of directors of the Chilean Olympic Committee (COCh)—.
“I never imagined something like this would happen. I had broken my best mark three times this year and I had earned that spot on the track, through merit and objective marks, which allowed me to be part of the starting team. The worst and most painful thing for me was that I was so notified of a decision that had probably already been made days ago by the relay coach,” the runner wrote.
Poulette Cardoch went further and accused pressure from people outside the competition. “People from outside the team came to the warm-up track to aggressively pressure and insult the head of the speed area, the technical manager of the federation and other coaches of the team who had shown solidarity with us,” said the athlete, who commented that , although she had been officially reinstated in the competition, decided not to appear due to the emotional burden suffered by the previous episode. Castillo did decide to enter, in a race in which Chile finished in sixth place, more than two seconds from the podium positions.
Berdine Castillo’s accusations against Ximena Restrepo
The controversy over the exclusion of athletes in the women’s 4×400 event grew even more with the statement of Berdine Castillo, one of those affected. The runner born in Haiti, part of the powerful integration of migrant athletes in Team Chile, mentioned that both she and Poulette Cardoch were attacked by the relatives of other athletes moments before starting the race.
“Family members of other members of the relay shouted and insulted the federation’s technical team and other coaches who had shown solidarity with us. Personally, I was rebuked in multiple ways, even reaching insults that are impossible not to link to racism, classism, elitism and other expressions of discrimination,” said the sprinter in a post on Instagram.
Castillo named some of the people who allegedly carried out the attack against him, among them the former Colombian athlete and Olympic medalist Ximena Restrepo, mother of Martina Weil and vice president of World Athletics. “Without considering the symbolic weight of her presence and her words, [Restrepo] He shouted and insulted technicians from the Chilean Federation, loudly pointing out my name and questioning my presence on the team. He demanded and pressured at all times, without any right or power, that they remove me from the 4×400 relay. There are multiple witnesses to these events,” said the athlete, who also accused indifference on the part of her teammates in the face of this situation.
Weil, who has become the great figure of Chilean athletics by having obtained a gold medal in her individual 400 meter event and a silver medal in the women’s 4×100 relay, had to speak about the controversy. Although she did not comment on the serious accusations against her mother, the 24-year-old Chilean athlete regretted what happened and apologized to Cardoch and Castillo.
“I have nothing more to apologize for that my teammates have felt this way. That they are really making these accusations, that they feel that the process was so non-transparent. It was a technical decision that was made separately from the athletes, this comes from above. It was the worst experience I have ever had in my life. At one point I said ‘they screwed me’ [arruinaron] the Pan American Games,” the runner said in a heartfelt video that shared on his social networks.
The investigation of the Athletic Federation
The Chilean Athletic Federation has reacted to this controversy, announcing an investigation to determine the origin of the exclusion of the two competitors. In a statement, the entity has explained that in its operation “it has an Ethics Commission, the Commission of Decree 22 (protocol for the prevention of harassment, abuse, discrimination and mistreatment in sport) and the Athletes Commission itself, all independent entities, who will finally hear the case and propose the appropriate disciplinary actions.”
“The Board of Directors of Atlética Chilena does not protect any type of situations that harm the normal development of its athletes, their coaches and leaders, so this case will be evaluated on its merit and the sanctions established in our regulations will be imposed,” stated the organization.
Athletics was one of the most successful sports for the South American country at the Pan American Games in Santiago. In addition to Weil’s gold medal, the Chilean team added the gold medals of the Chilean-Cuban Santiago Ford in the decathlon and Lucas Nervi in the discus throw. He also contributed silver and bronze for a medal table that left Chile with 79 decorations of different metals.
The left-wing government of President Gabriel Boric has been a great promoter of the sporting event, highlighting its success despite previous problems in the organization and its ability to unite the country in the midst of a tense political moment marked by the constitutional debate. The enthusiasm of the Chilean authorities has reached such a level that the possibility of pushing for the presentation of a candidacy for Santiago de Chile to organize the 2036 Olympic Games has even been mentioned.
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