Mexico City native Yareli Acevedo won gold in the women’s points race at the 2025 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Santiago, Chile, over the weekend, making history as the first Latin American to capture the title.
The 24-year-old student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) finished with 63 points, edging out two medalists from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris: Anna Morris of Great Britain with 58 points and New Zealand’s Bryony Botha with 56 points.
Finishing ahead of Morris was no mean feat, as the 30-year-old from Wales won two medals at last year’s world championships in Denmark, and one more last week in Chile.
Acevedo’s victory is yet another milestone for Mexican cycling — which is riding high thanks to 21-year-old Isaac del Toro. The native of Ensenada, Baja Californian, has won 16 professional road races in 2025 to rise from No. 57 to No. 3 in the UCI world rankings.
Acevedo has become just the second Mexican ever to win a world track cycling title, following Nancy Contreras’ 2001 win in Belgium. A two-time Olympian, Contreras has been distinguished as one of Mexico’s “Leyendas Deportivas” (Sports Legends).
Acevedo returned to Mexico with a hero’s welcome, celebrated on Wednesday by the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (Conade) at Villas Tlalpan, an elite sports training center in Mexico City.
She showed her gold medal and expressed gratitude for the support received throughout her career.
“This medal is the result of all the work, effort and tears of these past years,” she said. “It’s the fruit of that entire journey.
“It’s a feeling I still haven’t processed,” she added. “It hasn’t sunk in yet.”
¡Oro para México🥇🇲🇽❤️!
Yareli Acevedo 🇲🇽 es CAMPEONA DEL MUNDO🥇🌍 en la prueba de puntos en el Mundial de Ciclismo de Pista 🚴♀️
Gran momento para el ciclismo mexicano 🥰pic.twitter.com/gkOWjhhdDA
— Fan México 🇲🇽 rumbo a LA2028 (@MLosAngeles2028) October 26, 2025
As a student at the Faculty of Accounting and Administration at UNAM, Acevedo must balance academics with her rapidly rising athletic career, which has included international wins in Turkey and Paraguay in 2025.
Her achievements include a gold medal at the last Pan American Games in 2023 in the omnium — a multi-race event often compared to a decathlon — along with a silver.
She recently ranked second worldwide in endurance events according to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).
Her victory on Sunday covered 25 kilometers — 100 laps over a 250-meter track. Competitors raced in a single final, with points-earning sprints occurring every 10 laps; riders could also earn 20 points by gaining a lap on the field.
It’s a race that requires intense strategy, as athletes must decide when to put their mettle to the pedal.
“I knew it was all or nothing,” she said. “If my strategy failed, I would finish fifth, but if I went all out, I would become world champion. I was going all out; I had no strength left.
“That day, I pedaled with all of Mexico behind me, with my heart and a strong desire to succeed, and I did it. It has been an epic year for me.”
Looking ahead, Acevedo said her next goal is to qualify for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
With reports from La Jornada, Gaceta UNAM, Olympics.com and Animal Politico
