The Pan American Sports Festival () is a

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 ...

organized by 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 ...

(PASO) for athletes from

the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

. The event is held in co-ordination with ACODEPA (Asociación de Confederaciones Deportivas Panamericanas) and the Pan American elements of the

Olympic movement The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

. PAN AMERICAN SPORTS FESTIVAL 2014
. ACODEPA (2014-04-18). Retrieved on 2014-08-11. The main purpose of the games is to serve as a development and training event to aid countries with their preparations for the larger

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

competition, which follows one year after the festival. The festival's developmental aspect is also tied in with the subsequent

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

, which takes place a year after the Pan American Games. The first edition in 2014 included 24

Olympic sports Olympic sports are sports that are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2024 Summer Olympics included 32 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented at the Internation ...

within its program. For some of the sports, the event serves as a method of qualification for competing at the Pan American Games. The idea for the festival came from

Mario Vázquez Raña Mario Vázquez Raña (June 7, 1932 - February 8, 2015) was a Mexican businessman and sports administrator, who served on both national and Olympic committees. He served as a member of the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

, a Mexican sports administrator and president of PASO. The event was approved in October 2013 by the PASO assembly.First Ever Pan American Sports Festival Set For Mexico
Around The Rings (2014-04-24). Retrieved on 2014-08-11. In addition to the developmental aspect of the event, Raña advocated its use as a way of supporting the region's federations by passing on technical knowledge, as well as fostering close ties between countries of the Americas. Unlike traditional multi-sport events, the Pan American Sports Festival is not limited to a specific city or area. The emphasis on training means the most appropriate pre-existing facilities are used instead, where possible, and location alone is not a major factor in venue selection. Training camps and coaching clinics are central aspects of the festival's events. The costs of an athlete's attendance are met by the organizers to encourage participation.

Editions

The 2014 Pan American Sports Festival was scheduled for July 11 to September 30 at various locations in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Roughly 3200 athletes from 41 nations took part in the 23 sports available at the inaugural event. The slalom canoeing competition in

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

on July 11 was the debut contest of the festival's history.INAUGURATION OF THE SLALOM CANOEING PAN-AMERICAN SPORTS FESTIVAL IN HUAUCHINANGO, PUEBLA
Festival Deportivo (2014-07-13). Retrieved on 2014-08-11. The continuation of the event beyond 2014 remained open-ended at the inception of the competition, with PASO preferring to assess the value of event after the conclusion of the first edition.

References

External links

Official competition website
{{PASO Pan American Games Recurring sporting events established in 2014 Multi-sport events in North America Multi-sport events in South America Quadrennial sporting events Sports festivals Sports festivals in Mexico