Everything about Pan-american Games totally explained
The
Pan American Games are a
multi-sport event, held every four years between competitors from all nations of the
Americas. The last edition was held in
Rio de Janeiro and the next will be in
Guadalajara, Mexico.
History
The idea of holding a Pan American Games grew from the Central American Games first organised in the
1920s. In
1932, a first proposal was made for Pan American Games, and the
Pan American Sports Organization was established. The first Games were scheduled to be staged in
Buenos Aires in
1943, but
World War II caused them to be postponed until
1951. Since then, the Games have been held every four years, with participation at the most recent event at over 5,000 athletes from 42 countries.
However, the Pan American Games have lost status, particularly in the United States, and have not received much attention in the sporting press as of late in the
United States and
Canada. The 1999 games in
Winnipeg, Canada were attended at least partially by second-string American athletes (each U.S. sport federation is allowed to determine who it'll send), and media coverage within the U.S. was limited, due primarily to the main t.v. broadcast rights being granted solely to U.S. Spanish-language television. In Canada, there was plenty of coverage, including a nightly two-hour program on
CBC, with an additional hour on local affiliate
CBWT, French-language coverage on
Radio-Canada, plus daytime coverage on
TSN. By
2003, the Pan American Games were once again neglected by the media.
Generally, the Pan American Games receive plenty of attention in most Latin American countries. The
2007 edition, held in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, has prompted the
Organizing Committee to restore important venues such as the
Estádio do Maracanã and build a new
Olympic Village. It is expected that the games will improve infrastructure in the city and lay the foundations for a possible bid for the
2014 FIFA World Cup.
Winter Games
There have been attempts to hold
Pan American Winter Games as well, but these have been without much success. An initial attempt to hold winter events was made by the organizers of the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires, who planned to stage winter events later in the year but dropped the idea for lack of interest.
Lake Placid, New York, tried to organize Winter Games in 1959, but again not enough Pan American countries expressed interest and the plans were canceled.
In 1988, members of PASO voted to hold the first Pan American Winter Games at
Las Lenas, Argentina in September of 1989. It was further agreed that Winter Games would be held every four years. Lack of snow forced postponement of the games until Sept. 16-22, 1990, when eight countries sent 97 athletes to Las Lenas. Of that total, 76 were from just three countries, Argentina, Canada, and the United States. Weather was unseasonably warm and again there was little snow, so only three Alpine skiing events--the Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super G--were staged. The U.S. and Canada combined to win all 18 medals.
PASO awarded the second Pan American Winter Games to
Santiago, Chile for 1993. The United States warned that it wouldn't take part unless a full schedule of events was held. The Santiago organizing committee eventually gave up and the idea hasn't been revived since.
Locations of Pan American Games
Medals table
The table below gives an overview of the all-time medal count of the Pan American Games.
| 1 |
|
1748 |
1295 |
873 |
3916 |
| 2 |
|
781 |
531 |
481 |
1793 |
| 3 |
|
348 |
547 |
682 |
1577 |
| 4 |
|
258 |
279 |
363 |
900 |
| 5 |
|
239 |
283 |
401 |
923 |
| 6 |
|
157 |
217 |
409 |
783 |
| 7 |
|
73 |
156 |
224 |
453 |
| 8 |
|
57 |
109 |
162 |
328 |
| 9 |
|
37 |
70 |
108 |
215 |
| 10 |
|
21 |
72 |
113 |
206 |
| 11 |
|
19 |
43 |
85 |
147 |
| 12 |
|
21 |
33 |
59 |
113 |
| 13 |
|
14 |
13 |
36 |
63 |
| 14 |
|
11 |
22 |
42 |
75 |
| 15 |
|
8 |
17 |
25 |
50 |
| 16 |
|
7 |
12 |
29 |
48 |
| 17 |
|
6 |
11 |
9 |
26 |
| 18 |
|
5 |
28 |
58 |
91 |
| 19 |
|
4 |
9 |
16 |
29 |
| 20 |
|
4 |
6 |
10 |
20 |
| 21 |
|
4 |
2 |
5 |
11 |
| 22 |
|
3 |
20 |
24 |
47 |
| 23 |
|
2 |
4 |
11 |
17 |
| 24 |
|
1 |
6 |
12 |
19 |
| 25 |
|
1 |
4 |
3 |
8 |
| 26 |
|
1 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
| 27 |
|
0 |
4 |
5 |
9 |
| 28 |
|
0 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
| 29 |
|
0 |
3 |
7 |
10 |
| |
0 |
3 |
7 |
10 |
| 31 |
|
0 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
| 32 |
|
0 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
| 33 |
|
1 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
| 34 |
|
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| 36 |
|
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| 37 |
|
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| 39 |
|
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 40 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| |
|
3497 |
3477 |
3875 |
10849 |
Participating Nations
Sports
Panamerican Torch
Since the first Panamerican Games, a torch is lit the same way as the Olympic Games (since 1924), Asian Games (since 1958) and All Africa Games (since 1965) does. In the first games in Buenos Aires 1951, the torch came from Olympia, Greece. Since the Mexico 1955 games, the torch is lit by Aztec people in old temples, first in Serra da Estrella and after in the Temple of the Sun God in Teotihuacán Pyramids. The only exception was Sao Paulo in 1963 whe the torch was lit in Brasilia by Guarani indigiens.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Pan-american Games'.
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