Artistic gymnastics competitions have been contested in the Americas since 1946, at the fifth edition of the
Central American and Caribbean Games. In
1951, the sport was contested at the
inaugural edition of the
Pan American Games, and in
1957 the first edition of the
South American championships in artistic gymnastics was held in
Buenos Aires,
Argentina. In 1964, the North American Championships in artistic gymnastics was contested for the first time. The meet would be staged until 1968, and in 1969 the competition changed its name to
Copa de las Americas (Cup of the Americas) to allow South American nations to compete. At least one South American nation,
Brazil, intended to compete, but eventually the event was attended only by North American nations. Only in 1987, with the development and growth of gymnastics around the world, a tournament for junior gymnasts from the Americas was established with competitions in
artistic and
rhythmic gymnastics. The event was originally scheduled to take place in 1986, but was ultimately held from February 20 to 28, 1987, in
Barquisimeto,
Venezuela. It was the first international tournament held on a continental level in the Americas outside of the
gymnastics events at the Pan American Games, and the first of its kind for junior gymnasts. A tournament for senior artistic and rhythmic gymnasts took place for the first time in 1989, named the
Pan American Cup. A second edition of the tournament was scheduled for four years later, in December 1993, in
Maracaibo, Venezuela, with events in men's and women's artistic gymnastics. In 1997, the title
Pan American Cup was dropped in favor of
Pan American Gymnastics Championships. The title
Pan American Cup would then be used to represent tournaments between clubs, instead of tournaments between national representatives. The
1997 Pan American Gymnastics Championships was held in
Medellín,
Colombia, and was attended by artistic and rhythmic gymnasts. In 1995, the
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) recognized
aerobic gymnastics (then sport aerobics) as a new competitive gymnastics discipline. The first edition of the Pan American Aerobic Gymnastics Championships was held in
Mérida, Venezuela, in
1999. The FIG recognized two new gymnastics disciplines,
acrobatic gymnastics, as well as
trampoline and
tumbling, in 1999. In
2004, the Pan American Trampoline and Tumbling Championships was organized for the first time in
Tampa, United States. The first edition of the Pan American Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships was organized in
2015. In 2018,
parkour was introduced by the FIG as a gymnastics discipline. To date, no Pan American Championships in parkour have been held. Pan American championships also exist for the sport of
aesthetic group gymnastics, a discipline not recognized by the FIG, organized, instead, by the International Federation of Aesthetic Group Gymnastics (IFAGG). The first edition of the tournament was organized in 2017 in
Mérida, Mexico. == Senior editions ==