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. It is the second oldest continental games in the world. 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 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, were 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 began. Approximately 5,000 athletes from 42 nations participated in the games to vie for a total of 330 medal events in 34 sports and 42 disciplines.
The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America.
The IX South American Games was a multi-sport event held between 19 and 30 March 2010 in Medellín, Colombia. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR), who awarded the Games to the city with 8 votes over the bid by previous host Santiago, Chile.
The Rio de Janeiro bid for the 2007 Pan American Games was a successful campaign, first recognised by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) in August 2001. Rio de Janeiro began working on the idea of staging the 2007 Pan American Games during the 1999 Pan American Games held in Winnipeg, Canada. There was a strong desire among sportspersons and officials at that time to work so that the best of national sport could be showcased at home, in a large event using state-of-the-art fields-of-play. Based on this strategic vision, the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) General Assembly decided in December 1999 that Brazil would not bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics and would instead focus its efforts on the bid for the 2007 Pan American Games. The important results obtained by the Brazilian delegation at the Winnipeg Games and the wide publicity for the event in Brazil encouraged sports authorities to definitely support the Rio de Janeiro bid to host the 2007 Pan American Games.
Diego Alberto Colorado is a male long-distance runner from Colombia. He represented his country in the marathon at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, taking 32nd place. He has won medals on the track over 10,000 metres, taking bronze at the 2005 South American Championships in Athletics and silver at the 2008 CAC Championships.
Three cities submitted bids to host the 2015 Pan American Games and Parapan games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), all three of which made the PASO Executive Committee's shortlist. The games were awarded to Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 6, 2009. The other shortlisted cities were Lima, Peru and Bogota, Colombia. Toronto won an absolute majority of votes after just one round of voting, eliminating the need for subsequent rounds of voting. PASO delegates and the media identified a number of factors in its favor, including the size of the country, safety, experience in staging multi sporting events, government guarantees, security, and cleanliness. Moreover, the other two nations are not as developed, and with the troubles faced with the 2011 Pan American Games, Toronto was seen as the favourite. Mario Vazquez Rana, the president of the Pan American Sports Organization was also known to be favouring Toronto. Moreover, the head of Lima's bid Ricardo Mungi even admitted Toronto was the best choice as they had the facilities and budget to stage the games.
Medellín 2018 was a bid by the city of Medellín and the Comité Olímpico Colombiano to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
Denisse Astrid van Lamoen is a Chilean archer. In 2000, she became the first Chilean archer to compete at the Summer Olympics, but after failing a drug test in 2002 she left archery to study law. She later returned to the sport. In 2011, she was voted "Chile's Athlete of the Year" after winning at the 2011 World Archery Championships. She was selected to be Chile's flag-bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She is of Dutch descent.
Four cities submitted bids to host the 2019 Pan American Games and Parapan games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), all four of which made the PASO Executive Committee's shortlist. PASO selected a host city for the 2019 Pan American Games at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, Canada on October 11, 2013, which Lima won. The other shortlisted cities were Santiago, Chile, La Punta, Argentina, and Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela.
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.
Only one city submitted a bid to host the 2011 Pan American Games and Parapan Games that was recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). Guadalajara, Mexico was selected by PASO unanimously as the host for 16th Pan American Games on Friday, June 2, 2006, at its 44th general assembly held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Guadalajara was the only city to officially bid for the 2011 Pan American Games; this may have been in part due to no announced and/or open candidature period for the event.
Two cities submitted bids to host the 2007 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization. PASO selected Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over San Antonio, United States as the host for 15th Pan American Games on August 24, 2002, at its general assembly held in Mexico City, Mexico by a vote of 30 to 21.
Three cities submitted bids to host the 1999 Pan American Games. Voting took place on 31 July, 1994, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Winnipeg, Santo Domingo, and Bogotá reached the final stage, and the assembly awarded Winnipeg the hosting rights following a deadlock.
Two cities initially submitted bids to host the 1987 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization. On July 12, 1981, Santiago was selected over Quito by PASO to host the X Pan American Games after the first round of voting at its general assembly held in Caraballeda, Venezuela.
Three cities submitted bids to host the 1971 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization. On July 22, 1967, Cali was selected over Santiago and Champ, Missouri by PASO at its general assembly, held at the Manitoba Medical College in Winnipeg, Canada, to host the VI Pan American Games.
Two cities submitted bids to host the 1975 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization. On August 29, 1969, Santiago was selected unanimously over San Juan to host the VII Pan American Games by PASO at its 10th general assembly, held in Cali, Colombia.
Four cities submitted bids to host the 1983 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO); however, only one city, Hamilton submitted their bid on time. On April 23, 1977, Caracas, Venezuela was selected over Hamilton, Canada in a two-city vote to host the IX Pan American Games by the PASO at its general assembly in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
José Armando Castillo also known as El Mago(the magician), is a retired baseball and fastpitch softball pitcher of the Dominican Republic National Team. He has won several gold medals in softball in various Central American and Caribbean Games and has been a national trainer in softball. He has been selected as the Softball Player of the Century in the Dominican Republic as well as added to the Corridor of Athletes of Merit of Santiago by the Sports Press Association of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. In 2016, José Armando was inducted to the Hall of Fame of the Sports of Santiago.
Luis Rafael Mejía Oviedo is an economist, communicator, sportsman and sports executive. He is currently the president of the Dominican Republic Olympic Committee (COLIMDO), an entity he has directed since 2006, in addition to being the president of the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization (ODECABE) and a member of the commissions on Women in Sport and Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
