Chile and Mexico have won places in the triathlon competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after taking gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto. Chilean Barbara Riveros and Mexican Crisanto Grajales won the women’s and men’s events in Canada’s largest city, and the International Triathlon Union (ITU) confirmed they had both earned a place in next year’s Olympic competition in Copacabana for their National Olympic Committees (NOCs).

They are the third and fourth nations to qualify for Rio 2016 after Great Britain and Switzerland confirmed their presence by winning the European games titles in June.

Riveros won the women’s race on Saturday (11 July) thanks to a strong performance in the final running section, with Mexico’s Paola Diaz and Bermuda’s Flora Duffy taking silver and bronze. Grajales tooks the men’s title on Sunday (12 July), sprinting past five rivals near the end to claim gold ahead of the USA’s Kevin McDowell and Mexican Irving Perez.

Barbara Riveros cannot hide her joy as she takes gold in Toronto (Photo: Getty Images/Harry How)

The Rio 2016 triathlon competitions will feature 55 athletes of each gender. The winners of the continental qualifying competitions for Oceania, Africa and Asia will also earn places for their NOCs, while the 2015 ITU World Olympic Qualification Event will offer three more slots in each gender. A further 44 places will be awarded based on ITU rankings, while there will be two places awarded by invitation. Brazil has a place guaranteed in the men’s and women’s events, as host nation.

Follow the race to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games here.

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.