Pan American Games

The Pan-American or Pan American Games    (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics. The competition is held between athletes from nations of the Americas, held every four years in the year before the Summer Olympic Games. There also has been one edition of the Winter Pan American Games in 1990. The Pan American Games were last held in Guadalajara in 2011.
  
History

 The idea of holding a Pan American Games dates back to the hosting of the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. Latin American representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) who were inspired by the holding of the first Central American Games in 1926, proposed the creation of a competition that would include all the countries of the Americas, for the purpose of strengthening sport activities in the region. The idea resulted also in the first ever Pan American Sports Congress, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1940.

Recent Games

Flag of the participating countries flying at the 2007 Pan American Games athlete's village.

From 2,513 participants representing 14 nations in 1951, the Games have grown to about 5,633 competitors from 42 countries at the 2007 Pan American Games. 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 Pan American Games participants. It is furnished with cafeterias, health clinics, and locations for religious expression.

by: Erica Dayane