The Pan American Games bring together athletes from the countries of the Americas in a festival of sport and international friendship. First time the volleyball was played on Pan American Games was in 1955. In Mexico City gold medal won the team of Unites States.
The Pan American games are a continental version of the Olympic Games which includes the Olympic Program sports and others that are not part of the Olympics. Conducted every four years, always one year before the Olympic Games, the first Pan American Games were held in 1951, in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. However, its origin dates back to 1932, in the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Inspired by the holding of the first Central American Games six years earlier, the Latin American representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) proposed the creation of a competition that would include all the countries in the Americas, for the purpose of strengthening sport activities in the region.
The idea resulted in the first Pan American Sports Congress, held in Buenos Aires in 1940. In principle the Congress determined that the inaugural games would be held in 1942 in the Argentine capital – plans that were postponed due to World War II. At the end of the conflict, a second Pan American Sports Congress in London during the 1948 Olympic Games, confirmed Buenos Aires as the host for the first Pan American Games, finally scheduled for 1951. Competitions started on February 25th and included 2,513 athletes from 21 countries, with 18 sports. The organization governing the Games was renamed, in 1955, as the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). Currently, 42 nations of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean comprise the organization. The official languages are Spanish and English.
History of Pan American Games
year
|
country
|
gold
|
silver
|
bronze
|
1955
|
Mexico
|
USA
|
Mexico
|
Brazil
|
1959
|
United States
|
USA
|
Brazil
|
Mexico
|
1963
|
Brazil
|
Brazil
|
USA
|
Argentina
|
1967
|
Canada
|
USA
|
Brazil
|
Cuba
|
1971
|
Colombia
|
Cuba
|
USA
|
Brazil
|
1975
|
Mexico
|
Cuba
|
Brazil
|
Mexico
|
1979
|
Puerto Rico
|
Cuba
|
Brazil
|
Canada
|
1983
|
Venezuela
|
Brazil
|
Cuba
|
Argentina
|
1987
|
United States
|
USA
|
Cuba
|
Brazil
|
1991
|
Cuba
|
Cuba
|
Brazil
|
Argentina
|
1995
|
Argentina
|
Argentina
|
USA
|
Cuba
|
1999
|
Canada
|
Cuba
|
Brazil
|
Canada
|
2003
|
Dominican Republic
|
Venezuela
|
Cuba
|
Brazil
|
2007
|
Brazil
|
?
|
?
|
?
|
Country
|
medal total
|
gold
|
silver
|
bronze
|
Brazil
|
12
|
2
|
6
|
4
|
Cuba
|
10
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
USA
|
7
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
Argentina
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
Mexico
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
Canada
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Venezuela
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|