Where good news shines

Adam and Erika Manilla are world champions.

Together.

The Colorado siblings won the gold medal in mixed doubles racquetball at the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 in late October. Team USA’s Adam and Erika beat Argentina’s Diego Garcia and Maria Jose Vargas 3-0 in the gold-medal match.

The Manilla siblings won the three seats by scores of 11-4, 11-4 and 11-6. Adam and Erika grew up in Centennial and attended Regis Jesuit.

“This is just an absolute dream,” Erika said on Team USA’s website. “This is the biggest stage we get with our sport, and I got to do it alongside my best friend and my mentor, my brother.”

Adam, who attended CU-Boulder, and Erika, who lives in the Denver area, both began playing racquetball as kids. They won the mixed doubles title in the U.S. championships earlier this year. Erika was the only American to qualify for all three events — singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

“It’s amazing,” Adam said on Team USA’s website. “She’s my sister, (so) I know how hard she works. We’ve been wanting this since we were about five to eight years old. So to be here now and live in this moment is pretty amazing. And to do it together is even more special.”

(“Colorado Sunshine” celebrates the good news in sports. Suggestions encouraged through Denver Gazette sports editor Paul Klee at [email protected].)