| VI Ibero-American Championships | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | 27 – 30 October |
| Host city | Mar del Plata, Argentina |
| Venue | Estadio José María Minella |
| Events | 42 |
| Participation | 346 athletes from 22 nations |
| Records set | 4 championship records |
The 1994 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics (Spanish: VI Campeonato Iberoamericano de Atletismo) was the sixth edition of the international athletics competition between Ibero-American nations which was held at the Estadio José María Minella in Mar del Plata, Argentina from 27–30 October.[1]
The competition marked the inauguration of a newly built track at the host stadium, which was part of Mar del Plata's developments for the 1995 Pan American Games. Due to its late scheduling in the annual track and field season, the competition did not attract some of the region's top athletes – Cuba, Portugal and Spain all sent less than full strength delegations. As a result, Brazil topped the medal table for the second time in Ibero-American history, taking eleven gold medals and 32 in total. Cuba were the next best performers with eight golds in their haul of 20 medals, while Colombia came third, having won seven events and 17 medals overall. The hosts, Argentina, were fourth with four golds and fifteen medals in total.[2]
Four new championship records were set at the 1994 edition. Ronaldo da Costa improved the men's 5000 metres record, but was beaten in the 10,000 metres by Armando Quintanilla, who took over half a minute off the previous record. Andrés Charadía bettered a men's hammer throw record, while María Eugenia Villamizar set a new standard in the inaugural women's hammer event.[3] Sueli dos Santos won the women's javelin with a South American record throw, but this mark was later removed as she was disqualified for doping.[2]
Outside of these performances, the standard of competition was lower than at previous editions. Carlos Gats won the men's 100 metres with a slow, wind-assisted time of 10.50 seconds to become the first Argentine to win an international 100 m race since Gerardo Bönnhoff in 1947. Sebastián Keitel of Chile completed a men's 200/400 m double, while Colombia's Ximena Restrepo achieved the same feat and also won in both relays, taking four gold medals from the championships. Andrea Ávila won golds in the women's long jump and triple jump and went on to medal in both the horizontal jumps at the 1995 Pan American Games. Brazilian Silvana Pereira also won two golds, taking the titles in both the long-distance track events.
