Pan American Games

Early games The idea of holding a Pan American Games was first raised at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where Latin American representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suggested that a competition among all the countries in the Americas should be created. At the first Pan American Sports Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1940, the participants decided that the first games should be held in Buenos Aires in 1942. The plans had to be postponed because of World War II. A second Pan American Sports Congress held in London during the 1948 Summer Olympics reconfirmed Buenos Aires as the choice of host city for the inaugural games, which were held in 1951. The games began on February 25 of that year, and offered 18 sports. Countries and territories that were part of the Commonwealth of Nations such as Canada did not compete at the first Pan American Games. The second games were held in Mexico City, Mexico. Competitions started on March 12 and included 2,583 athletes from 22 countries, competing in 17 sports. The Pan American Games have subsequently been held every four years. During the games most athletes and officials are housed in the Pan American Games village. This village is intended to be a self-contained home for all the participants. It is furnished with cafeterias, health clinics, and locations for religious expression. PASO allows nations to compete that do not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that other international organizations demand. As a result, colonies and dependencies are permitted to set up their own National Olympic Committees. This includes territories such as Puerto Rico and Bermuda, which compete as separate nations despite being under the jurisdiction of another power. Winter Pan American Games , Argentina, hosted the only Pan American Winter Games. There have been attempts to hold Winter Pan American Games throughout the history of the games, but these have had little success. The organizers of the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires planned to stage winter events later in the year, but dropped the idea due to lack of interest. Another difficulty is that the Americas cover both hemispheres, which creates scheduling issues related to reverse seasons. Lake Placid, New York tried to organize Winter Games in 1959, but again not enough countries expressed interest. The plans were eventually cancelled. Cali was chosen as the host city at the Executive Committee in San José, Costa Rica on 27 March 2019. Panam Sports chose Asunción, Paraguay as the host for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games. Asunción received 32 out of 48 votes, while Santa Marta, Colombia received the remaining 16 votes. == Pan American Sports Organization ==

The Pan American Games Movement encompasses a number of national and international sporting organizations and federations, recognized media partners, athletes, officials, judges, and every other person and institution that agrees to abide by the rules of the Olympic Charter (which is the same as PASO's charter). As the umbrella organization of the Olympic Movement, PASO is responsible for selecting the host city, overseeing the planning of the Pan American Games, updating and approving the sports program, and negotiating sponsorship and broadcasting rights. The Pan American Games Movement is made of three major elements: • International Federations (IFs) are the governing bodies that supervise a sport at an international level. For example, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is the IF for football (soccer), and the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) is the international governing body for volleyball. There are currently 36 IFs in the Pan American Games Movement, representing each of the Pan American Games sports. • National Olympic Committees (NOCs) represent and regulate the Pan American Games movement within each country. For example, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the NOC of the United States. There are currently 41 NOCs recognized by PASO. • Organizing Committees for the Pan America Games (PAOGs) constitute the temporary committees responsible for the organization of a specific celebration of the Pan American Games. PAOGs are dissolved after each Games, once the final report is delivered to PASO. Spanish and English are the official languages of the Pan American Games Movement. The other language used at each Pan American Games is the language of the host country. For example: at the 2007 Pan American Games who was held in Brazil, the first language was Brazilian Portuguese. Every proclamation (such as the announcement of each country during the parade of nations in the opening ceremony) is spoken in these three languages or the main two depending on whether the host country is an English or Spanish speaking country. ==Symbols==

. The Pan American Games Movement uses symbols to represent the ideals embodied in the Pan American Games charter. The Pan American Sports Organization flag displays the PASO logo on a white background. To highlight the close association between the International Olympic Committee and the Pan Am Games, the Olympic Rings were added to the flag in 1988. The flag has been hoisted during each celebration of the Games. Due to an administrative issue, the flag was hoisted while the Olympic Hymn was played until the 2007 Games. In 2011 Games, the new anthem was played for the first time. The anthem itself was chosen in 2007 and was adopted in 2008. Similar to the Olympic flame, the Pan American Games flame is lit well before the Games are to commence. The flame was lit for the first games in Olympia, Greece. For subsequent games, the torch has been lit during the simulation of the Aztec new fire ceremony held during the Mezoamerican period, the ceremonies here held first in the Cerro de la Estrella National Park in Mexico City and later they moved the ceremony to the Pyramid of the Sun located in Teotihuacan Pyramids Complex. The only exception was for the São Paulo games in 1963, when the torch was lit in Brasília by the indigenous Guaraní people and two ways were held as the country also hosted the 1963 Summer Universiade in Porto Alegre. An Aztec elder then lights the torch of the first relay bearer, thus initiating the Pan American torch relay that will carry the flame to the host city's main stadium, where it plays an important role in the opening ceremony. It has played an important part on the Games identity and promotion. The mascot of the most recent Pan American Games, in Santiago de Chile, was Fiu, a seven color rush tyrant. List of Games mascots: • San Juan 1979: Coqui (frog) • Caracas 1983: Santiaguito (lion) • Indianapolis 1987: Amigo (green parrot) • Havana 1991: Tocopan (bird) • Mar del Plata 1995: Lobi (sea lion) • Winnipeg 1999: Duck and Lorita (ducks) • Santo Domingo 2003: Tito (manatee) • Rio de Janeiro 2007: Cauê (sun) • Guadalajara 2011: Huichi (deer), Gavo (agave plant) and Leo (lion) • Toronto 2015: Pachi (porcupine) • Lima 2019: Milco (statue) • Santiago 2023: Fiu (Many-colored rush tyrant) ==Ceremonies==

Opening As mandated by the Olympic Charter, various elements frame the opening ceremony of the Pan American Games. The Organizing Committee of each edition has the flexibility to choose the order of the opening ceremony program. But, it has been common since 2007 that the opening ceremonies starts with the nation anthem of the host country and the nations parade is held immediately afterwards, with the athletes grouped by nation. Argentina is traditionally the first nation to enter in order to honor the origins of the Pan American Games, similarly to how Greece enters first in the Olympic Games as the originator. Nations usually then enter the stadium alphabetically according to the host country's or city's official language, with the host country's athletes being the last to enter. During the 1995 Pan American Games, which was hosted in Mar del Plata, Argentina, the Argentine flag entered the stadium first, while the country's delegation entered last (similarly to the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece) and all delegations could sit in reserved areas in the stands of the main stadium. The speeches are given, formally opening the Games; the PANAM Sports Flag and Olympic Flag are raised and the oaths taken immediately afterwards. Finally, the Pan American torch is brought into the stadium and passed on until it reaches the final torch carrier—often a well-known and successful athlete from the host nation—who lights the Pan American Games flame in the stadium's cauldron. After the medals are presented, the national flags of the three medalists are raised while the national anthem of the gold medalist's country plays. Volunteering citizens of the host country act as hosts during the medal ceremonies: they aid the officials who present the medals and act as flag-bearers. For each event, the respective medal ceremony is held, at most, one day after the event's final. When athletics was scheduled for the last days, the men's marathon is run on the last day of the games, and the award ceremony is held before or during the closing ceremony. ==Sports==

Key: = Discontinued ==Medals==

of Brazil has a record 23 Pan American medals. Here he holds a gold medal during the 2007 edition. The athletes or teams who place first, second, or third in each event receive medals. The winners receive gold medals, while the runners-up receive silver medals and the third-place athletes are awarded bronze medals. In events contested by a single-elimination tournament (most notably boxing), third place might not be determined and both semifinal losers receive bronze medals. PASO does not keep statistics of medals won, but National Olympic Committees and the media record medal statistics as a measure of success. The top ten nations all time at the Pan American Games (minus medals won at the Winter Pan American Games): ==List of Pan American Games==

The Pan American Games have been hosted by 17 cities in 11 countries. Mexico and Canada have hosted three Pan American Games each, more than any other nation. Among cities, only Winnipeg and Mexico City hosted the Games twice. The city of Lima, Peru which previously hosted the Games in 2019, will serve as the host city once again in 2027, making this the third city to have hosted the Games twice. The host city for a Pan American Games is usually between six and seven years ahead of the each edition. The selection process is held in two phases that span a three years period. Since 2024, cities or regions can apply for the Games, following the changes proposed by the International Olympic Committee, respecting Agenda 2020+5.The interested parties can present their proposals to the National Olympic Committee of their country, which is up to the latter to accept or reject the proposals; if more than one city or region from the same country submits a proposal to its NOC, the national committee typically holds an internal selection, since only one bid per NOC can be presented to the PanAm Sports for consideration. Once the deadline for submission of proposals by the NOCs is reached, the first phase (Application) begins with the applicant cities asked to complete a questionnaire regarding several key criteria related to the organization of the Pan American Games. In this form, the applicants must give assurances that they will comply with the Olympic Charter and with any other regulations established by PanAm Sports's Executive Committee. The evaluations of the completed questionnaires are made by a group of experts from PanAm Sports with an overview of each applicant's project and their potential to host the Games. On the basis of this technical evaluation, PASO's Executive Board selects the applicants that will proceed to the candidature stage. Once the candidate cities are selected, they must submit to PASO a bigger and more detailed presentation of their project as part of a candidature file. Each city is thoroughly analyzed by an evaluation commission. This commission will visit the candidates, interviewing local officials and inspecting prospective venue sites, and submit a report on its findings one month before the PanAm Sports's final decision. During the interview process the bidding city or region must guarantee that it will be able to fund the Games. After the work of the evaluation commission, a list of candidates is presented to the General Session of PanAm Sports, which is assembled in a country that must not have a candidate city in the running. The members of PASO gathered in the Session have the final vote on the host city. Once elected, the host city bid committee (together with the NOC of the respective country) signs a Host City Contract with PanAm Sports, officially becoming a Pan American Games host nation and host city. ==Participating nations==

As of the 2023 edition, 35 countries and six territories, whose National Olympic Committee is recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization, compete at the Pan American Games. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ==See also==