Pan American Games 1951

The 1st Pan-American Games took place in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires . They were held from February 25 to March 9, 1951. A total of 2513 athletes from 21 countries took part in 20 sports.

The opening ceremony took place in the Estadio Presidente Perón in front of 100,000 spectators. President Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Eva Perón opened the event. Since then, the Argentine team has always been the first to march in at the opening ceremony, as Argentina is the founding country of the Pan American Games. This is followed by the other nations in alphabetical order, with the host country last. A Greek-Argentine athlete carried the torch , which had been lit in Olympia and brought to the American continent by ship, into the stadium.

It was the first and last time that the United States did not win the most medals. Argentina led the way with 152 medals, including 68 gold medals. On March 9, the games in the Estadio Monumental ended in front of 60,000 spectators.

Results

• Boxing
• fencing
• Soccer
• Weightlifting
• athletics
• tennis

Web links

• I Jogos Pan-Americanos - Buenos Aires - 1951 in Quadro De Medalhas (Portuguese)