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. The 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.