The 20km race walks at the Pan American Games offered an opportunity to qualify for next year's Olympic Games in Paris through meeting the entry standard times or earn World Athletics ranking points.

Former world champion Kimberly García of Peru crossed the line of the women's race in 1 hour 12min 26sec, more than 11 minutes quicker than China's Jiayu Yang existing record.world record.

Further eyebrows were raised when the top 12 competitors all dipped below the world record mark, all comfortably inside the Olympic entry standard of 1:29:20.

Athletes immediately claimed the route through the streets of the Chilean capital and O'Higgins Park was around 3km short of the required 20km, prompting organisers to hastily remeasure the course for the men's race.

García's gold, the silver for Ecuador's Glenda Morejón and Peru's Evelyn Inga's bronze all stood as medals, but athletes were left deeply frustrated at being denied an Olympic qualifying opportunity.

García has already secured a qualifying place for Paris 2024, and admitted athletes noted something was wrong early on in the race.

"We realised it since the first kilometre," she said, as reported by the Associated Press.

"The time did not coincide with the distance. 

"It was more about us focusing on our feelings not to lose control.

"It didn’t affect myself alone, I wanted the Pan American record.

"Other girls wanted a spot in the Olympic Games.

"It is a shame that will not happen because the weather, everything was fit for good timings."

Santiago 2023 has blamed the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA) for the embarrassing episode, claiming the measurements are its "exclusive responsibility".

"The expert commissioned by APA, Mr Marcelo Ithurralde, did not take accurate measurements of the route the athletes took during the race," Santiago 2023 said.

"As established by international regulations, APA is the only organisation authorized to carry out measurements and therefore is responsible for the official distance of the competition.

"For its part, the Santiago 2023 Corporation is in charge of hiring the expert designated by APA and facilitating his work in the field of competitions.

"We deeply regret the inconvenience for the athletes, their coaches, the public and the attending press, but this situation cannot be attributed to the Organising Committee."

insidethegames has asked the APA for a comment.

The men's 20km race walk took place with the correct distance, Ecuador's David Hurtado setting a Games record of 1:19:20 to beat Caio Bonfim of Brazil by four seconds and Andres Olivas of Peru by 36 seconds.

The incident marks the second day running organisational issues have disrupted competition at the Pan American Games, after the women's handball semi-final was ended more than 15 minutes early with Brazil leading Chile 30-10 because of leaks in the roof at the venue in Viña del Mar.

Santiago 2023 has claimed the issues with the roof were not its responsibility and blamed the Municipality of Viña del Mar, claiming a contract signed last month obliged it to manage the leaks.

The women's handball medal matches took place as planned today at the Gimnasio Polideportivo de Viña Del Mar, Brazil beating Argentina 30-18 for a seventh consecutive title and a place at Paris 2024, and Paraguay edging Chile 23-20 for bronze.

Chile is planning a bid for the 2027 Summer edition of the Special Olympics World Games, and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach encouraged it to bid for the Olympics and Paralympics during his visit at the start of the Pan American Games.