World Cup 2024: Perez leads Mexico's medal charge in Acapulco

As expected, regional and local stars made the most of the home advantage as the Mexico 2024 World Cup came to a close on Sunday (26 May).

There were several personal best results while seasoned stars stamped their dominance yet again as the race to Paralympic Games qualification gets more exciting.

Mexico topped the elite medals table with four gold medals from a total of 21 medals, followed by Egypt also with four gold and Cuba with three.

Home stars 

Four-time Paralympic champion and home favourite Amalia Perez led the medal charge for the hosts Mexico, competing in a higher weight category.
Perez, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic champion in women’s -61kg, lifted 129kg for the women’s -67kg gold ahead of her colleague Fatima Castellanos Rodriguez and El Salvador’s Irene Villeda.

Other gold medallists for the home team were Miguel Angel Melendez Made (men's over 107kg), Martin Perez (men's up to 88kg) and P. Patricia Barcenas Ponce De Leon (women’s over 86kg).

De Leon is the reigning Americas record holder and Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games champion.     

Paralympic stars shine

Egypt rode on their Paralympic stars Hany Abdelhady (men's up to 97 kg) and Mahmoud Attia (men's up to 80 kg) to clinch the gold medals in men’s events.

Among other international stars, El Salvador's Tokyo2020 Paralympic bronze medallist Herbert Aceituno came out with a powerful 185kg lift for the men’s -59 kg gold medal. 

Cuba’s Enmanuel Rodriguez Gonzalez bettered his own Americas record in men's up to 49 kg with his best lift of 157kg. It was also enough to fetch him the gold. 

Gonzalez later helped Cuba put up a strong show to win the gold in men’s team events. 

The women’s team event saw three Mexican sides fighting for medals with Ponce De Leon stirring the Mexican team 3 to claim the top honours.

The mixed team gold medal went to Cameroon.

Full results from the Mexico 2024 World Cup can be found here.

What’s next?

After Dubai, Sharm El Sheikh, Pattaya and Mexico, the World Cup action moves to Tbilisi, Georgia for the final event before the qualification deadline ends in June. 

The Tbilisi 2024 World Cup, scheduled from June 20 to 26, is expected to witness power packed action with athletes making a final attempt to attain Paris 2024 cut.