The Spirit of Friendship Through Sports: Poster Images from the Pan-American Games (2004)

The Pan American Games bring together athletes from the countries of the Americas in a festival of sport and international friendship. The Games are held every four years in the year preceding the Olympic Games. The first Pan American Games took place in 1951 at Buenos Aires, Argentina, but they originated more than two decades earlier. At the Olympic Congress coinciding with the 1924 Olympic Games at Paris, France, the International Olympic Committee members from Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico proposed the establishment of regional games for the countries of Central America. These games became reality two years later when Mexico City hosted the first Central American Games.