The Pan American Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held among athletes from nations of the Americas, every four years in the year before the Summer Olympic Games. The only Winter Pan American Games were held in 1990. In 2021, the Junior Pan American Games was held for the first time specifically for young athletes. The Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) is the governing body of the Pan American Games movement, whose structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter.
The El Salvador national football team represents El Salvador in international football, and is governed by the Salvadoran Football Federation (FESFUT).
The 1951 Pan American Games were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina between February 25 and March 9, 1951. The Pan American Games' origins were at the Games of the X Olympiad in Los Angeles, United States, where officials representing the National Olympic Committees of the Americas discussed the staging of an Olympic-style regional athletic competition for the athletes of the Americas.
The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959.
The 1963 Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil.
The 1971 Pan American Games were held in Cali, Colombia, from July 30 to August 13, 1971. A total of 2,935 athletes from 32 countries participated in seventeen sports.
The 1991 Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18, 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was the Estadio Panamericano, a multi-use stadium in Havana that holds 50,000 people.
The 1995 Pan American Games were held in Mar del Plata, Argentina, from March 12 to March 26, 1995. After 44 years, this was the Pan American Games first return to the country that hosted the first Games, in 1951.
The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and cities. Canoeing competitions started the day before the games officially begun. Approximately 5,000 athletes from 42 nations participated at the games. A total of 330 medal events in 34 sports and 42 disciplines.
The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international sports, cultural, and educational event held from 6 to 18 October 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were the first Youth Olympic Games held outside of Eurasia, and the first Summer Games held outside of Asia and the first to be held in the Western and Southern hemispheres. It was the second Olympic Games held in South America after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Argentina has competed at every edition of the Pan American Games since the first edition of the multi-sport event in 1951, in which it hosted. Argentina competed in the first ever Pan American Winter Games in 1990, however it failed to get medals.
The 2019 Pan American Games, officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, were held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminary rounds in certain events having begun on July 24, 2019. These were the first Pan American Games to be held in Peru, and the seventh to be held in South America.
The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Athletics at the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival took place from August 15 to 16, 2014. The event was held at the Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo" in Mexico City, Mexico. A total of 34 events were contested, 17 by men and 17 by women. There were no road races, no relays, and no combined events.
The Pacific Ocean Games was a multi-sport event between countries of the Pacific Rim. It was held only once, in 1995 from June 23 to July 3 in Cali, Colombia. Some events were also hosted in the Colombian cities of Buenaventura, Armenia, Pereira, Manizales, Popayán.
The 2023 Pan American Games, officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, scheduled to be held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 November 2023. These are the first Pan American Games to be held in Chile, and the eighth to be held in South America.
The 2007 Parapan American Games, officially the III Parapan American Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan American Games as governed by the Americas Paralympic Committee, held from August 12 to 19, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Organized by the Rio de Janeiro Organizing Committee and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), it marked the first time that the Parapan American Games were staged in the same city and followed directly after the Pan American Games.
One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), along with three cities that withdrew their bids. On March 11, 1955, at the IV Pan American Congress in Mexico City, PASO selected Cleveland unanimously to host the III Pan American Games.
The 45th South American Swimming Championships were held from 16 to 19 March at the Parque Olímpico de la Juventud in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
