Gonzalez Earns Bronze as Team USA Places Six Athletes in Pan American Championships Finals

LIMA, Peru — Madison Gonzalez captured the women’s bronze medal to lead Team USA at the 2026 Pan American Championships, held July 17–20 in Lima, Peru.

The championships brought together 54 men and 44 women and carried significance beyond the continental titles. The event also served as the competition through which countries earned quota places for the 2027 Pan American Games, a direct qualification opportunity for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Team USA advanced the maximum four athletes per gender from qualification, placed six athletes in the finals and concluded the competition with one medal.

Qualification Round

The championship began July 17 with athletes divided into two qualification groups. The top 18 from each group were eligible to advance, although each country was limited to four semifinalists per gender.

The U.S. women opened with a particularly strong performance in Group B, sweeping the first three positions.

Corinne Thompson won the group with 1,212 points. She placed second in fencing with 250 points and recorded the group’s highest laser-run score with 440 points.

Courtney Middelkoop followed in second with 1,195 points, highlighted by a third-place obstacle performance of 46.04 seconds. Yu Hannah Kim completed the American sweep in third with 1,144 points after placing fourth in obstacle and second in swimming.

Cassandra Steptoe gave the United States a fourth top 11 result in Group B, finishing 11th with 1,083 points. Her 435-point laser run ranked second in the group.

In Group A, Phaelen French led the Americans with a balanced fourth-place performance worth 1,141 points. She placed fifth in fencing and sixth in both obstacle and laser run.

Madison Gonzalez finished eighth with 1,008 points despite receiving no obstacle points. Gonzalez responded by producing the fastest swim in the group at 1:02.28 and the second-highest laser-run score.

Ingrid Mayer also finished inside the top 18, placing 14th with 862 points after recording the group’s third-best laser-run score. Mary Zoldak placed 20th with 728 points.

With only four athletes per country permitted to continue, French, Gonzalez, Thompson and Middelkoop were selected to represent the United States in the women’s semifinals.

Luke Filar placed fourth in Men’s Group A with 1,392 points, led by the group’s second-best obstacle result of 25.79 seconds. Michael Arishita finished seventh with 1,389 points after placing fifth in swimming and fourth in laser run.

In Group B, Tyler Evans took fourth with 1,405 points. His 28.04-second obstacle performance ranked second in the group.

Tristen Bell secured the final advancement position in 18th place with 1,149 points. Bell received no obstacle points but remained inside the cutoff by winning the fencing discipline and recording the group’s third-highest laser-run score.

All four American men moved forward to the semi-final.

Semifinals

The semifinals were contested July 19, with the top nine athletes from each group advancing to the 18-athlete finals.

Middelkoop and Thompson both advanced from Women’s Semifinal A. Middelkoop finished sixth with 1,228 points, supported by a second-place obstacle performance of 37.86 seconds. Thompson placed eighth with 1,215 points and recorded the fourth-highest laser-run score in the group.

Gonzalez continued her strong swimming in Women’s Semifinal B, winning the discipline in 1:02.23. She finished third overall with 1,251 points, one of four athletes who completed the semifinal with the same score.

French finished 13th with 1,172 points and did not advance, ending her championship four places outside the final.

The American men also advanced three of their four semifinalists.

Bell and Filar moved through Men’s Semifinal A in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Bell scored 1,446 points and tied for the second-highest laser-run score with 582 points. Filar finished two points behind him with 1,444, highlighted by the third-fastest obstacle performance at 24.38 seconds.

Evans produced one of Team USA’s best semifinal performances, finishing third in Men’s Semifinal B with 1,464 points. He won the obstacle discipline in 24.54 seconds and placed fourth in swimming with a time of 56.30 seconds.

Arishita finished 17th with 1,343 points and did not advance.

Those results sent Gonzalez, Thompson, Middelkoop, Filar, Evans and Bell into the championship finals.

Gonzalez Reaches the Podium

Gonzalez delivered Team USA’s top result of the championships in the women’s final on July 20.

She scored 224 points in fencing before completing the obstacle course in 42.88 seconds. Gonzalez then won the swimming discipline with a time of 1:01.79, giving her a field-leading 833 points through the first three events and the first starting position for the laser run.

Gonzalez completed the laser run in 13:55.59 and scored 465 points to finish with 1,298 points and the bronze medal.

Ecuador’s Maria Naranjo won the Pan American title with 1,325 points, while Guatemala’s Sofia Cabrera earned silver with 1,309.

Thompson finished sixth with 1,268 points. Her strongest performance came in fencing, where she placed second with 244 points.

Middelkoop finished 16th with 1,208 points, highlighted by the fifth-best obstacle result of the final. She completed the course in 38.23 seconds and earned 331 points.

Filar Leads U.S. Men in Final

Filar was the highest-finishing American in the men’s final, placing 12th with 1,448 points. He delivered the second-fastest obstacle performance of the competition, completing the course in 24.27 seconds for 373 points.

Evans finished 14th with 1,435 points. His 56.13-second swim ranked fifth in the field, and he added 562 points in the laser run.

Bell completed the American results in 17th place with 1,410 points.

Canada’s Nolan Rosenegger won the men’s title with 1,500 points, narrowly defeating Mexico’s Manuel Padilla, who scored 1,498. Ecuador’s Andres Torres earned bronze with 1,491 points.

Team USA concluded the championships with eight semifinalists, six finalists and Gonzalez’s bronze medal, while also gaining important experience in a competition tied directly to the qualification pathway for the 2027 Pan American Games and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.