From Cuba to Chile: Santiago Ford's journey to become champion at the Pan American Games

November 1, 2023

A couple of meters before finishing the 1,500 meters event of the decathlon, Santiago Ford stopped his jog, stretched his arms to the sides and crossed the finish line walking, just as he did four years ago when he entered Chile.

Seeking to improve his quality of life, Ford made the decision to leave Cuba in September 2018. He flew from the island to Guyana, from there he emigrated by boat to Brazil, crossed that country to reach Peru and entered Chile through the northern region.

According to his account, to reach Santiago, he had to cross the desert following the railroad tracks. He suffered from hunger and thirst, but managed to reach his destination.

"When I entered the finish line I stopped, but it wasn't because I wanted to, but suddenly I remembered when I was walking through the desert at five in the morning, standing in the middle of nowhere not knowing what to do," Ford said with the gold medal hanging from his neck.

Naturalized as a Chilean citizen less than a year ago, the 26-year-old athlete became decathlon champion at the Pan American Games on Monday night at the old National Stadium.

"Those last meters were that reflection of being in the early morning dehydrated, but my heart and my mind knew that I wanted to be here at this moment," he added.

The idea of going to Chile took root in Ford's head when a group of Chilean coaches went to the island. He had finished fourth at the U-20 World Championships held in Poland in 2016, but he understood that this result in his country was not enough and decided to leave.

In Chile he didn't have a good time at first. He had to work as a security guard in nightclubs to generate income and combine it with high-performance training. It was not a good combination and it seemed that his dream of succeeding in athletics was fading away.

"The migrant goes through many things, it takes a lot of hard work to achieve your goals," acknowledged the decathlete. "At first it wasn't everything as I thought, but God gave me the opportunity to achieve it."

Later he met coach Matías Barrera, who housed him in his home and he was able to resume his training. The next problem he faced was that he didn't have citizenship and couldn't compete for Chile.

That changed at the end of last year when Ford along with two other Cuban wrestlers received citizenship to be able to compete at the Pan American Games. It was a process that required a law that was proposed by senator Sebastián Keitel, a former sprinter who once won a bronze medal in the 200 meters at the Indoor World Athletics Championships in 1995.

Ford did not disappoint them.
"We kept the dream intact from day one, thanks to Sebastián Keitel who helped me with the citizenship project so that today we would be defending Chile's colors," Ford said. "I am very grateful to the Chileans, today my legs were shaking in the discus with seven thousand people singing my name and the discus went where it had to go and today we all celebrate together."