| XV Ibero-American Championships | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | 8–10 June |
| Host city | Barquisimeto,Venezuela |
| Venue | Polideportivo Máximo Viloria |
| Events | 44 |
| Participation | 362 athletes from 24 nations |
| Records set | 4 Championship records |
The2012Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: XV Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo) was the fifteenth edition of the internationalathletics competition betweenIbero-American nations. It was held at the Polideportivo Máximo Viloria inBarquisimeto,Venezuela between 8–10 June. Twenty-five nations and a total of 398 athletes participated at the competition.[1]
Initially set to be held in the country's capitalCaracas, the competition was moved to Maracay in April 2011.[2] The Venezuelan Sports Ministry had not committed any funds for the event.[3][unreliable source] As a result, the president of the Venezuelan Athletics Federation, Wilfredy León, rescheduled the event following the promise of theAragua state governorRafael Isea to help build a new stadium for the championships.[4] However, the new stadium and purpose-built accommodation for the event were not ready within schedule. The event was postponed from May to June, but the project remained off-target and in May 2012 Héctor Rodríguez, the Venezuelan Sports Minister, declared that the competition would be held in Barquisimeto (the host of the2003 South American Championships).[citation needed]
The highlight performances were twoSouth American records by Brazilians in the women's section.Andressa de Morais threw a record in thediscus throw andLucimara da Silva'sheptathlon score was also aChampionship record.[5] Barquisimeto nativeRosa Rodríguez also set a championship record in the women'shammer throw,[6] while Colombia'sJames Rendón was the only man to break a competition record, bettering the 20,000 metres walk time.[5]
Argentine throwerGermán Lauro won both the men'sshot put and discus events.[7] Ecuador'sÁlex Quiñónez was the only other athlete to take two individual titles (100 m and 200 m), althoughEvelyn dos Santos came close by winning the 200 m and finishing second in the 100 m. Becoming one of the oldest gold medallists at the competition, 39-year-oldRomary Rifka, who first participated in 1988, won the women's high jump.[6] Brazil, which sent the largest delegation, topped the medal table with fourteengold medals and a total of 44 overall. Cuba (leaders in 2010) came second with eight golds and eighteen medals. Colombia was third, on six golds, and the hosts Venezuela performed well on home turf, taking fourth place in the table and ten medals from the competition. In addition to the two area records, elevennational records were broken during the competition.[8]
* Host nation (Venezuela)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Brazil | 14 | 17 | 13 | 44 |
| 2 |  Cuba | 8 | 6 | 4 | 18 |
| 3 |  Colombia | 6 | 3 | 5 | 14 |
| 4 |  Venezuela* | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 5 |  Argentina | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 6 |  Ecuador | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
 Mexico | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| 8 |  Chile | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 9 |  Puerto Rico | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 |  Portugal | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 |  Peru | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 |  Dominican Republic | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 13 |  Spain | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 14 |  Costa Rica | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Panama | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Paraguay | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 |  Mozambique | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (17 entries) | 44 | 44 | 44 | 132 | |
Twenty-four members of theAsociación Iberoamericana de Atletismo sent athletes to the event. The level of athlete participation (362 in total) was relatively high compared to previous years although non-American countries representation was rather poor.[9] Aruba participated for the first time. The five member nations not competing wereAndorra,Cape Verde,Equatorial Guinea,Guatemala,Guinea-Bissau andSão Tomé and Príncipe.
Angola (2) Argentina (24)
Aruba (1)
Bolivia (3) Brazil (70) Chile (10) Colombia (32) Costa Rica (3) Cuba (24) Dominican Republic (19) Ecuador (18)
Honduras (8) Mexico (21) Mozambique (2)
Nicaragua (3) Panama (7) Paraguay (9) Peru (5) Portugal (4) Puerto Rico (12)
El Salvador (2) Spain (16)
Uruguay (4) Venezuela (63) | ||