Venezuelan surfers Rafael Pereira and José López will compete for gold and silver at the Central American Games

Published at: 28/07/2026 03:38 PM

Venezuelan surfers Rafael Pereira and José Joaquín López will compete in the shortboard final this Wednesday to define gold and silver at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026.

Venezuela has already secured these two metals for registration, thanks to the brilliant performance of Pereira and López.

Nono Pereira dominated all of his qualifying rounds with overwhelming success and López took revenge in the semifinals to get his ticket to the fight for gold.

In the first performance at Playa Encuentro, Nono finished at the top of his group with 9.90 points, he also dominated the second round with 7.83 and in the third he gave all his rivals a ride with 13.90. In the semifinal this Tuesday, he extended his dominance by overwhelmingly beating Costa Rican Samuel Reidy 10.67 by 4.54.

For his part, López led the first round with 10 points, came second with 12.23 in his next challenge behind Gian Oliva from Quisqueya (15.66), but returned to the top in the third outing, scoring 12.70 to advance to the semifinals.

In that instance, this Tuesday he took revenge against Oliva and defeated him 12 by 10.70 to go to the grand final between compatriots for the gold medal.

With the gold and silver that Pereira and López secured, Venezuela surpassed the performance of San Salvador 2023 in which surfing captured two silvers through Francisco “Lolo” Bellorín and Jesús Arocha.

Mazo News Team