Pan-American Games are one of the regional equivalents to the Olympic Games. The Pan-American Games are open to athletes from the Caribbean, Central America, North America, and South America. The games are conducted the year before the Olympic Summer Games. First Pan -American Games were scheduled for 1942, but postponed until 1951 because of World War II. Most Olympic sports are included in the Pan-American Games program. The Pan-American Sports Organization, made up of the national Olympic committee of participating countries, conducts the games in cooperation with the International Amateur Athletic Federation.