History made: Abud-Dehnike and Vilchez-Mosca win padel's first-ever South American Games gold medals

Padel wrote a page that will stay in its history books on Saturday, September 26: Martín Abud and Facundo Dehnike (Paraguay) in the men's event and Victoria Milena Vilchez and María Belén Mosca (Argentina) in the women's claimed the discipline's first-ever gold medals at a South American Games. The competition, held at the Estadio Invencible in Rafaela (Santa Fe province), debuted padel as an official sport of South America's flagship multi-sport event at its 13th edition — and did so with the stands packed: around 4,100 spectators watched finals day live.

Paraguayan gold against the host pair

The men's final pitted the two pairs that had performed best all week. Abud and Dehnike beat the Argentines Santino Contreras and Ignacio Piotto 6-4, 7-6, denying the 'Albiceleste' a home double. The champions finished the tournament undefeated, dropping just one set — on the opening day of the group stage, against Uruguay's Artia Malugani and Ensslin Alves.

The win caps a dream summer for Paraguayan padel: at the end of August, the same pair, wearing their national team colours, had qualified Paraguay for the FIP World Cup in Doha by winning the South American qualifier. "Gold medal! Paraguayan padel has reached the highest levels in South America. Now let's enjoy this moment", Abud said after the title.

Argentina celebrates with Vilchez and Mosca

The women's event brought the celebration home. Vilchez and Mosca beat Chileans Catalina Arancibia and Kimberley Ahumada Carrasco 6-2, 6-3 after a perfect campaign: no set dropped and just 15 games conceded across the entire tournament. For Arancibia, the silver comes months after another milestone with her national team: in August she helped Chile book their place in the Doha World Cup at the same South American qualifier.

The bronze medals rounded out a shared podium: in the men's event, Uruguay (Artia Malugani and Ensslin Alves) beat Chile 6-2, 6-2; in the women's, Ecuador (Alejandra Álvarez and Marines Holguín Reyes) defeated Peru (Aragones and Torres Draxl), with the first set decided in a tie-break and the second dominated 6-1.

A historic sell-out and the road to the Olympics

The Rafaela event exceeded all organisational expectations: 32 athletes from eight national teams competed over four days, and the final was played in front of a sold-out Estadio Invencible. Padel arrives at these Games as an official sport after its exhibition at the Asunción 2022 edition, a step the International Padel Federation (FIP) frames within its drive toward Olympic recognition.

After the Mediterranean Games in Taranto last month, the international calendar keeps piling up milestones: this Monday, September 28, padel makes its debut at the Asian Games in Nagoya 2026, with the first Asian medals up for grabs, followed by the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Riyadh 2026 and the European Games in Istanbul 2027. Each of these debuts brings padel one step closer to its big goal: earning a place on the Olympic programme.