The newly-adapted Villa Deportiva Nacional, one of the main venues within the remodelled VIDENA National Sports Complex in the San Luis District of Peru’s capital, boasts a Mondo track laid in March certified as a class one facility by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Some of the continent’s top athletes have arrived determined to make good early use of the facility that was visited earlier this year by retired world 100 and 200 metres record holder Usain Bolt,

A time of 10.28sec in cold and rainy conditions on the first of three days of competition was some way short of Bolt at his best, but it earned Brazil's Rodrigo do Nascimento – a member of the quartet that secured a sensational 4x100m relay win at the IAAF World Relays in Yokohama earlier this month –  the 100 metres gold medal.

That was one of seven golds for Brazil in the Championships, which conclude on Sunday (May 26).

Gabriel Constantino won the 110m hurdles in 13.54 and Augusto Dutra de Oliveira triumphed in the pole vault with 5.61m - with his compatriot, the Rio 2016 champion Thiago Braz da Silva having to settle for silver.

In the women’s events Brazil's Vitoria Cristina Rosa won the 100m in 11.24, Tiffani Marinho earned 400m gold in 52.81, Andressa de Morais won the discus with 62.42m and Laila Domingos took the javelin title with 57.79m.

 Colombia collected four golds thanks to Anthony Zambrano, who won the 400m in 45.53, Mauricio Ortega, who won the discus with 58.89m, Carolina Tabares, who clocked 33min 36.77sec for the 10,000m, and Yosiris Urrutia, who won the triple jump with 13.85m.

Athletics will take place at Lima 2019 from July 28 to August 11.