Athletics at the 1955 Pan American Games

The athletics competition at the 1955 Pan American Games was held in Mexico City, Mexico.

Athletics at the 1955 Pan American Games
Dates	13–19 March
Host city	Mexico City, Mexico
Venue	Estadio Universitario
Level	Senior
Events	29
Participation	242 athletes from 20 nations
← Buenos Aires 1951 Chicago 1959 → 1955 Pan American Games

Medal summary

Men's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres	Rod Richard United States	10.3A GR	Mike Agostini Trinidad and Tobago	10.4A	Willie Williams United States	10.4A
200 metres	Rod Richard United States	20.94A GR	Charles Thomas United States	21.42A	José Telles da Conceição Brazil Mike Agostini Trinidad and Tobago	21.66A 21.67A
400 metres	Lou Jones United States	45.68A WR	Jim Lea United States	45.78A	Jesse Mashburn United States	46.44A
800 metres	Arnie Sowell United States	1:49.86A GR	Lon Spurrier United States	1:50.51A	Ramón Sandoval Chile	1:52.52A
1500 metres	Juan Miranda Argentina	3:53.30A GR	Wes Santee United States	3:53.44A	Fred Dwyer United States	3:56.04A
5000 metres	Osvaldo Suárez Argentina	15:30.6A	Horace Ashenfelter United States	15:31.4A	Jaime Correa Chile	15:39.2A
10,000 metres	Osvaldo Suárez Argentina	32:42.6A	Vicente Sánchez Mexico	33:00.4A	Jaime Correa Chile	33:42.6A
Marathon	Doroteo Flores Guatemala	2:59:10A	Onésimo Rodríguez Mexico	3:02:22A	Luis Velásquez Guatemala	3:05:26A
110 metres hurdles (wind: 0.0 m/s)	Jack Davis United States	14.44A	Keith Gardner Jamaica	14.74A	Evaristo Iglesias Cuba	14.94A
400 metres hurdles	Josh Culbreath United States	51.5A GR	Jaime Aparicio Colombia	51.8A	Wilson Carneiro Brazil	53.0A
3000 metres steeplechase	Guillermo Solá Chile	9:46.8A	Santiago Novas Chile	9:50.4A	Eligio Galicia Mexico	9:54.2A
4 × 100 metres relay	United States Willie Williams John Bennett Charles Thomas Rod Richard	40.96A GR	Venezuela Clive Bonas Apolinar Solórzano Guillermo Gutiérrez Juan Leiva	41.36A	Mexico Alberto Goya René Ahumada Javier Souza Sergio Higuera	41.94A
4 × 400 metres relay	United States Jesse Mashburn Lon Spurrier Jim Lea Lou Jones	3:07.43A GR	Jamaica Keith Gardner Richard Stick Mel Spence Allan Moore	3:12.63A	Venezuela Guillermo Gutiérrez Apolinar Solórzano Evaristo Edie Juan Leiva	3:15.93A
High jump	Ernie Shelton United States	2.01A GR	Herman Wyatt United States	2.01A	José Telles da Conceição Brazil	1.91A
Pole vault	Bob Richards United States	4.50A =GR	Bobby Smith United States	4.30A	Don Laz United States	4.30A
Long jump	Rosslyn Range United States	8.03A GR	John Bennett United States	8.01A	Ary de Sá Brazil	7.84A
Triple jump	Adhemar da Silva Brazil	16.56A WR	Asnoldo Devonish Venezuela	16.13A	Víctor Hernández Cuba	15.60A
Shot put	Parry O'Brien United States	17.59A GR	Fortune Gordien United States	15.98A	Marty Engel United States	14.62A
Discus throw	Fortune Gordien United States	53.10A GR	Parry O'Brien United States	51.07A	Hernán Haddad Chile	47.14A
Hammer throw	Bob Backus United States	54.91A GR	Marty Engel United States	53.36A	Elvio Porta Argentina	51.45A
Javelin throw	Franklin "Bud" Held United States	69.77A GR	Ricardo Héber Argentina	66.15A	Reinaldo Oliver Puerto Rico	65.56A
Decathlon	Rafer Johnson United States	6994A	Bob Richards United States	6886A	Hernán Figueroa Chile	5740A

Women's events

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
60 metres	Bertha Díaz Cuba	7.5A	Isabelle Daniels United States	7.6A	Mabel Landry United States	7.6A
100 metres	Barbara Jones United States	11.90A GR	Mae Faggs United States	12.07A	María Luisa Castelli Argentina	12.38A
80 metres hurdles	Eliana Gaete Chile	11.7A	Bertha Díaz Cuba	11.8A	Wanda dos Santos Brazil	11.8A
4 × 100 metres relay	United States Isabelle Daniels Mabel Landry Mae Faggs Barbara Jones	47.12A GR	Argentina Lilián Heinz Lilián Buglia Gladys Erbetta María Luisa Castelli	47.27A	Chile Betty Kretschmer Carmen Venegas Eliana Gaete Elda Selamé	49.49A
High jump	Mildred McDaniel United States	1.685A	Deyse de Castro Brazil	1.59A	Verneeda Thomas United States	1.59A
Discus throw	Ingeborg Pfüller Argentina	43.19A GR	Isabel Avellán Argentina	40.06A	Alejandrina Herrera Cuba	38.00A
Javelin throw	Karen Anderson United States	49.15A	Estrella Puente Uruguay	43.43A	Amelia Wershoven United States	43.06A

A = affected by altitude

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	20	14	8	42
2	Argentina	4	3	2	9
3	Chile	2	1	6	9
4	Brazil	1	1	5	7
5	Cuba	1	1	3	5
6	Guatemala	1	0	1	2
7	Mexico	0	2	2	4
8	Venezuela	0	2	1	3
9	Jamaica	0	2	0	2
10	Trinidad and Tobago	0	1	1	2
11	Colombia	0	1	0	1
	Uruguay	0	1	0	1
13	Puerto Rico	0	0	1	1
Totals (13 entries)		29	29	30	88

Participating nations

•  Argentina (17)
•  Bahamas (2)
•  Brazil (17)
•  Canada (13)
•  Chile (16)
•  Colombia (9)
•  Costa Rica (1)
•  Cuba (12)
•  Dominican Republic (8)
•  Guatemala (8)
•  Jamaica (7)
•  Mexico (47)
•  Netherlands Antilles (4)
•  Paraguay (2)
•  Puerto Rico (5)
•  El Salvador (1)
•  Trinidad and Tobago (2)
•  United States (50)
•  Uruguay (4)
•  Venezuela (17)

References

• Olderr, Steven (2009). The Pan American Games: A Statistical History, 1951-1999, bilingual edition. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786443367. ISBN 978-0-7864-4336-9.
• GBR Athletics: Pan American Games
• Sports 123: Athletics at the Wayback Machine (archived 2011-10-04)