Panama secured a historic bronze medal in Surfing at the IV South American Youth Games Panama 2026, thanks to a girl just 13 years old. Her name: Shakti Martínez, competing in the Women’s Shortboard category, after completing a challenging and outstanding performance throughout both the main rounds and the repechage.
Martínez showed from day one at Playa Venao, Pedasí, Los Santos that she was ready to fight for a podium spot. On April 13, in Main Round 1 (Heat 3), the Panamanian athlete posted one of the highest scores of the competition with 15.17 points, convincingly surpassing Colombia’s Angelina Decesare (8.67)
Despite falling in Main Round 2 to Peru’s Catalina Zariquiey in a tightly contested heat, the Panamanian did not give up and took the long road through the repechage, where she strung together an impressive streak of victories to secure her place in medal contention.
To reach the podium, Martínez had to overcome four consecutive elimination rounds in the repechage bracket:
Repechage Round 2: She once again defeated Angelina Decesare (COL) with a solid score of 12.84 against her opponent’s 7.00.
Repechage Round 3: She overcame Venezuela’s Kellyani Flores with a score of 7.60 to 5.37.
Repechage Round 4: She defeated Argentina’s Victoria Muñoz in a strong performance, scoring 11.67 to her opponent’s 8.84
Repechage Round 5: She secured her place in the medal rounds by defeating Peru’s Urpi Torres in a highly strategic heat, winning by a narrow margin of 6.10 to 5.76
In the decisive heat for the bronze medal, held on April 16, Shakti Martínez faced Brazil’s Luara Mandelli. In a very close heat where both athletes searched for the best tide conditions, the Brazilian narrowly took the win with 8.77 points, while the Panamanian finished with an excellent total of 8.00 points.
With this result, Shakti Martínez officially secures third place.
