Pan Am champion in critical condition after hit and run accident
Brazil's Luisa Baptista remains in critical condition after a hit and run accident
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
Brazil’s Luisa Baptista, the 2019 Pan American Games champion and Tokyo Olympian, is in critical condition in a São Paulo hospital after a hit and run accident last Saturday (Dec. 23). There are differing reports on the accident, with insidethegames.biz reporting that the 29-year-old was struck by an “unlicensed motorcyclist,” while AgenciaBrasil reports that she was struck by a car. (Based on CNN’s reporting, it would appear that the driver collided with both Baptista and another motorcycle.)
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Baptista’s team said that she had “suffered an accident when she was training on Saturday morning on a road in the district of Santa Eudoxia, in São Paulo,” according to the AgenciaBrasil report. “A car that was coming along the track collided head-on with the bicycle the athlete was riding and the driver fled the scene without providing assistance.”
Baptista’s condition appears to be improving, but she remains in critical care.
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Baptista is currently 52nd in the World Triathlon Olympic rankings. In addition to her individual gold medal from the Pan Am Games, Baptista helped the Brazilian team take gold in the mixed relay at the 2019 Games, too. Baptista has also excelled at middle-distance races, taking the win at Ironman 70.3 Pucon in 2022 and finishing eighth at this year’s Professional Triathletes Organisation European Open last May.
