The Pan American Games is a major sporting 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. And from 2021, there would be a Junior Pan American Games 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 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 5th Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967.
The 7th Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the 2nd Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seven years, after the 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1970 FIFA World Cup.
The 12th 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-August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Approximately 5,000 athletes from 42 nations participated at the games. The competition was marred by a total of 7 positive drug tests.
The 14th Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 until August 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 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to July 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 332 events in 34 sports and in 47 disciplines. During the Games, 95 new Pan American records were set; 2,196 medals were awarded; 1,262 doping control tests were performed and about 15,000 volunteers participated in the organization of the event, which was an Olympic qualification for 13 International Federations (IFs).
The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, Puerto Vallarta, Lagos de Moreno and Tapalpa. It was the largest multi-sport event of 2011, with approximately 6,000 athletes from 42 nations participating in 36 sports. Both the Pan American and Parapan American Games were organized by the Guadalajara 2011 Organizing Committee (COPAG). The 2011 Pan American Games were the third Pan American Games hosted by Mexico and the first held in the state of Jalisco. Previously, Mexico hosted the 1955 Pan American Games and the 1975 Pan American Games, both in Mexico City. The 2011 Parapan American Games were held 20 days after the Pan American Games have ended.
The Pan American Sports Organization is an international organization which represents the current 41 National Olympic Committees of North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Rugby sevens at the Pan American Games was held for the first time at the 2011 Pan American Games. On July 11, 2007, Mario Vazquez Rana, president of the Pan American Sports Organization, (PASO), announced that rugby sevens would be added to the list of sports that will be played at future Pan American Games, after a vote by the organization's general assembly. Women's rugby sevens was later added to the program for the 2015 Games.
Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics have been contested at the Pan American Games since the 1951 edition. In 1987, Rhythmic Gymnastics was introduced. In 2007, Trampoline was added to the program.
The United States (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the Pan American Games. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States.
The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Games was the last Parapan American Games that was held not in the same city as the Pan American Games. The most recent games was the 5th Parapan American Games which took place in 2015 with the host city being Toronto, Canada. The next Parapan American Games are scheduled between 23 August to 1 September 2019, in Lima, Peru.
The 2019 Pan American Games, officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games, are an upcoming multi-sport event governed by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), to be held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminary rounds in certain events beginning on July 24, 2019.
The United States competed at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, from October 14 to October 30, 2011.
Colombia competed at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada from 10 July to 26 July 2015.
The United States competed at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, from July 10 to 26, 2015.
Venezuela competed in the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada from July 10 to 26, 2015.
