The Bolivarian Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Bolivarianos'', full name ''Juegos Deportivos Bolivarianos'') are a regional

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

held in honor of

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

, and organized by the Bolivarian Sports Organization (''Organización Deportiva Bolivariana'', ODEBO). The event is open to athletes from

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. In 2010, the ODEBO decided to include

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

as the seventh member of ODEBO. Except Panama and the Dominican Republic, all other participating countries are Andean states.

History

The first Games were held in 1938 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

for the city's 400th anniversary. They have since been held irregularly, but every four years since 1973, with the most recent edition in

Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Cesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. The ...

in 2022. Inspired by the events of

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

,Creacion
. Juegos Bolivarianos. Retrieved on 2009-11-27. Alberto Nariño Cheyne was the key designer of the idea of a Games to foster unity among the Bolivarian countries through the means of sport. Following the first Games, the Bolivarian Sports Organization was formed as a sub-organisation of the

Pan American Sports Organization Panam Sports, officially the Pan American Sports Organization (), is an international organization which represents the current 41 National Olympic Committees of the American continents. It is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee ...

by six founding members from the respective countries – Jorge Rodríguez Hurtado (Bolivia), Alberto Nariño Cheyne (Colombia), Galo Plaza Lasso (Ecuador), Luis Saavedra (Panama), Alfredo Hohagen Diez Canseco (Peru) and Julio Bustamante (Venezuela). In terms of medals, Peru was dominant in the early years of the competition but Venezuela has consistently been the most successful country since the 1960s. A detailed history of the early editions of the Bolivarian Games between 1938 and 1989 was published in a book written (in Spanish) by José Gamarra Zorrilla, former president of the Bolivian Olympic Committee, and first president (1976-1982) of

ODESUR The Organización Deportiva Suramericana (ODESUR) is a multi-sports organisation. It organises the South American Games. Member nations There are 15 affiliated National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national co ...

Summary

Games

Beach Games

;Notes

Youth Games

Sports

The following table was compiled based on information extracted from a variety of sources. It should be considered as incomplete. Disciplines from the same sport are grouped under the same color:

Aquatics Aquatics may refer to: *Aquatic sports in the Olympics and other international competitions, including the disciplines of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming *Water-related sports more broadly (including boa ...

–

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

–

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

–

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

– Underwater sports –

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Nations

Core (6)

ODEBO (Organización Deportiva Bolivariana) /

Andean Community The Andean Community (, CAN) is a free trade area with the objective of creating a customs union comprising the South American countries (Andean states) of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The trade bloc was called the Andean Pact until 1 ...

( Andean States): * Bolivia * Colombia * Ecuador * Panama * Peru * Venezuela

Invited Nations (5)

The invited countries are not members of ODEBO but they are invited since 2013

Central America

* El Salvador * Guatemala

Caribbean

* Dominican Republic

South America

* Chile * Paraguay

Members

ODEBO Members of the

National Olympic Committees A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

include:

Medals

Games (1938-2024)

The total medal count for all the Games until 2024 is tabulated below. This table is sorted by the number of

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

won by each country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals.

, the

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, and

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

started competing since the

2013 Bolivarian Games The 2013 Bolivarian Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Bolivarianos''), officially the XVII Bolivarian Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from November 16–30, 2013, in Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo, Peru, with some events held in ...

All time records

holds the record for the highest number of gold medals won for a country in a single edition, obtaining 213 gold medals at the 2017 Bolivarian Games in

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

as the host nation. *

holds the record for the biggest lead of gold medals to second place, obtaining a margin of 119 gold medals over

in Santa Marta 2017. *

holds the record for the biggest lead of total medals to second place, 168 medals more than

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. *

holds the record for the highest number of total medals obtained in a single edition with 476 in the 2009 Bolivarian Games in

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

Beach Games (2012-2016)

Youth Games (2024)

Sport in Americas

* Sport in North America * Sport in South America

References

External links

2001 Bolivarian Games results

2005 Bolivarian Games official website

2009 Bolivarian Games official website
{{PASO Multi-sport events in South America