After the second barrier, Altobeli da Silva moved out from the middle of the pack to take the point.

The crowd was enthusiastic as home town Mario Bazán stayed in the lead group throughout.

At the bell, the last in the lead group Carlos San Martín began to move forward.

Both passed Mahoney before the final water jump and were in a race for the bronze medal still 5 meters back of Keter.

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows: All times shown are in seconds.