The 1983 season was the peak of Montiéh's career, but also his last at a high level. First came the 1983 Pan American Games held in Caracas, Venezuela. The 1975 400 m hurdles champion, James King, was among the entrants, as was the last edition's runner-up Ferreira of Brazil. Montiéh produced the performance of his lifetime with a run of 50.02 second in the final. This held off Ferreira by six hundredths of a second to claim the 400 m hurdles gold medal for Cuba – the nation's first in the history of the event since its inception in 1951.[5] The final major appearance of his career was at the 1983 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics, at which he was the hurdles silver medallist behind Spain's José Alonso and a relay gold medallist with a Cuban team of Tomás Pedro González, Lázaro Martínez and Julio Osvaldo Prado.[6]