The Pan-American Games, Pan American Games or Pan Am Games is a major multi-sport event held every four years in the year prior to the Summer Olympic Games in the Americas. The event includes athletes selected from countries and sports federations on the American continents as well as associated islands and territories. The Pan American Games are one of several multi-national, multi-sport events that recur on a regularly rotating basis like the Olympic Games.

The Pan American Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games take place every four years in the year preceding the Olympics.

This competitive event currently features summer sports and formerly included winter sports – there was one Winter Pan American Games in 1990 – and provides an opportunity for thousands of athletes from nations in the Americas to compete. Host cities have managed both the Pan American and the Parapan American Games, in which athletes with physical disabilities compete against one another since 2007. The Parapan American Games are held immediately following each Pan American Games.

Pan American Games History

The Pan American Games bring together athletes from the countries of the Americas in a festival of sport and international friendship. The first Pan American Games took place in 1951 at Buenos Aires, Argentina, but the event originated more than two decades earlier.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) members from Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico suggested the establishment of regional games for the countries of Central America at the Olympic Congress during the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

The games came to life two years later when Mexico City became the host location for the first Central American Games. Latin American delegates of the International Olympic Committee were inspired by the first Central American Games in 1926, and they proposed the development of a competition that would include all countries of the Americas to help grow sports activities in the regions during their stay at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. This proposal led to the first Pan American Sports Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina in August of 1940. This first congress decided that Buenos Aires would host the first Pan American Games in 1942, but the date was cancelled due to World War II.

The second Pan American Sports Congress met at the end of the war during the 1948 Olympic Games in London, and the original plans for games in Argentina were revived. Over 2,500 athletes from 21 countries participated in 18 sports at the first Pan American Games which opened on February 25, 1951 in Buenos Aires.

In 1955, the organization that governs the games was renamed as the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). The next Pan American Games were held every four years in the cities of Chicago, United States in 1959, São Paulo, Brazil in 1963 and Winnipeg, Canada in 1967.

Pan American Games Today

Today, 42 countries from North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean are members in the organization. The Pan Am Games have grown from more than 2,500 participants representing the 21 participant nations in 1951 to over 5,600 competitors from the 42 member countries.

Colonies and dependencies are allowed to set up their own National Olympic Committees, since PASO allows nations to compete that do not meet the strict requirements for political sovereignty that other international organizations demand. This means that territories like Puerto Rico and Bermuda are allowed to compete as separate nations, even though they are legally a territory in another country.

During the games the majority of the participating athletes and officials are housed in the Pan American Games village – a self-contained home for all of the Pan American Games participants. The village has food services, a medical facility and places for religion services, prayer or worship.

What is the Pan American Sports Organization?

The Pan American Sports Organization is the recognized governing body of the Pan American Games Movement, and uses a structure that is defined by the Olympic Charter. PASO is headquartered in Mexico City and the official languages for this governing body are English and Spanish. PASO is the decision-maker that is responsible for:

• Determining the sports that will compete at the games.
• Overseeing the planning of the Pan American Games, updating and approving the sports program, and negotiating sponsorship and broadcasting rights.
• Making sure that all rituals and symbols as well as the opening and closing ceremonies meet all requirements.
• Selecting the host city for each Pan American Games.

The host city has many responsibilities and must fund and organize the games in a manner that meets all requirements of the Olympic Charter. More than 5,600 athletes participate in each Pan American Games in 36 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third place competitors in each of these events are awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals for their efforts.

The PASO emblem shows a torch that is superimposed over five circles in yellow, green, white, red and blue. At least one of these colors appears on every national flag of the countries of the Americas. PASO’s motto America, Espirito, Sport, Fraternité includes a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, English and French, four of the languages in common use in the Americas. The approximate translation in English is The American spirit of friendship through sports.

What is the Pan American Games Movement?

The Pan American Games Movement consists of several national and international sporting organizations and federations, recognized media partners, as well as athletes, officials, judges, and any other person and institution that agrees to abide by the rules of the Olympic Charter - which is the same as PASO's charter. The Pan American Games Movement includes three major elements:

• International Sports Federations (IFs) that supervise each sport at an international level. There are currently 36 IFs in the Pan American Games Movement, representing each of the Pan American Games sports.
• National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that represent and regulate the Pan American Games movement within each country. 42 NOCs are recognized by PASO.
• Organizing Committees for the Pan America Games (PAOGs) are temporary committees that organize a specific celebration in the Pan American Games. PAOGs are dismissed at the end of each games.

Although Spanish and English are the official languages of the Pan American Games Movement, the language of the host country is the one additional language that my be used at each event. Every proclamation – like the announcement of each country during the opening ceremony parade of nations – is spoken in these three languages, or the main two when the host country is an English or Spanish speaking nation.