Team USA became the first nation to claim all three women’s individual medals at the quadrennial Pan American Games as the event culminated in a comeback upset by two seed Olivia Weaver over two-time defending champion Amanda Sobhy Wednesday, November 1, at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago, Chile.
The U.S. ensured at least a bronze and silver medal after the first day of play Tuesday night when twenty-year-old Marina Stefanoni upset Canada’s 3/4 seed Nicole Bunyan in five games. That result set up an all-American semifinal Wednesday morning between the Harvard senior and Harvard graduate Sobhy. The top seed and world No. 5 was in her best form and dispatched her teammate 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 to reach the finals.
The ensuing semifinal saw Weaver, the two seed, come back from losing the first game against Canada’s Hollie Naughton to reach the gold medal match in her Pan American Games debut 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-9.
The women’s final–a rematch of the 2023 U.S. Women’s Championship final–proved to be a spectacle for the packed gallery at the Centro Deportivo de las Raquetas. Sobhy started the final in the same commanding form that saw her reach the final without dropping a game, taking the first two games 11-4, 11-6. Weaver started to gain a foothold to take the third game 11-6, and carried the momentum for the rest of the match to win 11-5, 11-6 in fifty-two minutes. The result marked Weaver’s first win against Sobhy in two years.
“I can’t believe it, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Weaver said. “I was down 2-0 and things were not going my way. I just told myself to stay committed to my game plan. I went out there in the third game and told myself ‘this is going to be the longest game of my life, if I’m going down I’m going to leave it all out there.’ I’m just over the moon that I was able to turn it around and find my game.”
Weaver (FKA Olivia Fiechter), was married just two weeks ago, and will now team up with Sobhy in both the women’s doubles and team competitions in search of more medals.
“It’s incredible to for Team USA to win gold, silver and bronze. It’s not new to anyone that the U.S. women are making a huge statement on the squash tour. To have three U.S. women on the podium is incredible and just a huge testament to US Squash who put their full support behind us and all of the positive things to come. I’m extremely proud to be on the podium alongside them, and I’m extremely grateful to the team here who have been supporting us all week and in preparation.”
The Santiago Pan American Games are the first major international tournament since squash was announced as an Olympic Sport at the LA 2028 games last month.
“Our match tonight is just a glimpse of the product we’re creating on court,” Fiechter said. “We’re constantly pushing each other to be the best we can possibly be, and I have no doubt that now that we’ve made it into the Olympics it’s just going to force all of us to raise our games even more. We’re counting the days to 2028.”
Thursday will welcome the introduction of the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles competitions. Olivia Blatchford Clyne and Timmy Brownell enter the Mixed Doubles competition with an opening match against Mexico Thursday morning. Weaver & Sobhy will then take on Ecuador, and Todd Harrity and Shahjahan Khan will face Colombia midday.
Singles and Doubles draws are available here. Teams draws are available here. For more Pan American Games coverage and information visit santiago2023.org. Select live streaming will be available on the Pan Am Sports Channel.