Weil dominated the final at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo (CARD) in Santa Fe, finishing comfortably ahead of Colombia’s Lina Licona, who took silver in 52.38 seconds. Argentina’s Megan Powell completed the podium with a personal-best 52.81.
• Gold: Martina Weil — Chile — 50.45
• Silver: Lina Licona — Colombia — 52.38
• Bronze: Megan Powell — Argentina — 52.81
Weil’s winning time erased one of the longest-standing records in the history of the South American Games.
Her mother, Ximena Restrepo, had established the previous Games record of 51.31 seconds in Valencia, Venezuela, in 1994. More than three decades later, Weil returned the family name to the record books by going 0.86 seconds faster.
The achievement carries particular significance because Restrepo was herself an elite 400m runner. She won an Olympic silver medal for Colombia in the event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, recording 49.64 seconds.
The new record therefore represents more than another medal for Weil. It is a rare moment in athletics in which a daughter has surpassed a major championship record established by her mother.
Weil also had unfinished business at the South American Games. At the 2022 Asunción Games, she finished second in the 400m by just one hundredth of a second.
Speaking after her victory, Weil explained that she had returned to the competition determined to make amends for that disappointment.
Her performance in Santa Fe delivered exactly that, as she claimed the gold medal while setting a new Games record in the process.
The victory also added another gold medal to Chile’s campaign at Santa Fe 2026, with Weil emerging as one of the standout performers of the athletics programme.
For Chilean athletics, the result represents another major milestone for one of its leading track athletes. For the Weil-Restrepo family, it creates an especially memorable chapter: a record set by a mother in 1994 has now been broken by her daughter in 2026.