By Lino Garcia
The Santiago 2023 Pan American Games had its opening ceremony this past Friday and brings together almost 7,000 athletes who will seek to climb the podium at the bicontinental ‘Olympics of the Americas’ tournament for 17 days through November 5th.
Here are some key facts about the Pan American Games:
39 Sports
The Pan American Games are made up of 39 sports that extend to 59 disciplines and a total of 421 events. This means that some sports branch out into different modalities and distinct competitions, for example: in Swimming – there is artistic swimming, which further includes duets, and larger team competitions, Boxing has different weight classes, Track and Field with multiple events, etc.
Sport Continuity
Of all sports competitions, 14 have remained stable since the inaugural edition in Buenos Aires 1951: Shooting, Rowing, Soccer, Weightlifting, Fencing, Boxing, Basketball, Baseball, Track & Field, Wrestling, Horse Riding, Swimming, Cycling and Gymnastics.
3 Debutants
At Santiago 2023, Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Breaking (break dancing) will debut as Pan American sports. The first two have already made their Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, while breaking will make its debut at Paris 2024.
21 Olympic Qualifying Events
These Games in Santiago, will provide the largest number of direct Olympic placements awarded in the history of the Pan American Games. Twenty-one (21) competitions will include direct passes and twelve (12) others will affect ranking positions or points toward reaching the 2024 Olympics.
8 Pan American–Only Sports
There are eight sports that will not be present at Paris 2024: Baseball (coming back in 2028), Softball (2028), Bowling, Water Skiing, Skating, Basque Pelota (Jai Alai), Racquetball and Squash (2028).
‘First’ Medals?
It is difficult to know which will be the first medal of the games, since both Taekwondo, in the men’s and women’s poomsae (or katas – a sequence of taekwondo techniques) modality; and Mountain Biking, in men’s cross-country, are beginning at the same time Saturday, October 21, while the last medal of Santiago 2023 will be awarded on November 5 in Cycling in the discipline of Men’s BMX Freestyle.
2,986 Medals
There will be 2,986 medals distributed, of which 947 will be Gold, 947 Silver and 1092 Bronze. On November 4, the penultimate day of competition, the largest number of medals will be awarded, as 102 final events are scheduled in 23 sports.
Santiago 2023 will be the 19th edition of the Pan American Games, which premiered in Buenos Aires 1951, and have been played throughout North and South America over the years. The 2019 games were in Lima, Peru, and the next edition will be in Barranquilla, Colombia in 2027.