Panam Sports, officially the Pan American Sports Organization (), is an international organization which represents the current 41 National Olympic Committees of the Americas.

It is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee and its affiliated bodies, including the Association of National Olympic Committees, and serves as the continental association of the Americas.

The organization's flagship event is the quadrennial Pan American Games, held since 1951. The Parapan American Games were inaugurated in 1999 for disabled athletes and are held alongside the able-bodied Pan American Games. The Pan American Winter Games, for winter sports, were held only once in 1990. The Pan American Sports Festival was inaugurated in 2014 as a developmental event for the region's athletes.

Affiliated organizations There are four regional entities affiliated with Panam Sports, they are:

CACSO (ODECABE) – organizers of the Central American and Caribbean Games ODEBO – organizers of the Bolivarian Games ODESUR – organizers of the South American Games ORDECA – organizers of the Central American Games

Official languages The organization's official languages are English and Spanish.

Flag Just like the International Olympic Committee, Panam Sports has its own flag. In 2017, Panam Sports underwent a complete rebranding of the organization, including changes to its commercial name (now Panam Sports), brand and flag. The modern design emphasizes the unity of Panam Sports' 41 member nations, displaying the both continents within a seal that features the new commercial name 'Panam Sports' at the top and 'Organization' at the bottom. The Olympic Rings reside below the seal, symbolizing the continental organization's close relationship with the IOC and the Olympic Games. The seal and accompanying rings are centered on the white background of the flag.

The original flag of PASO-ODEPA contained organization's motto "AMÉRICA, ESPÍRITO, SPORT, FRATERNITÉ", each respectively in Spanish, Portuguese, English and French. The original flag also displayed a torch along with the Olympic Rings and five circles with the official colors of the Olympics on a white background. Finally, the words PASO and ODEPA were written to indicate the organization the flag represents.

Member nations In the following table, the year in which the NOC was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is also given if it is different from the year in which the NOC was created.

Nation Code National Olympic Committee President Created/Recognised IOC member Subregion ANT Antigua and Barbuda National Olympic Committee E.P. Chet Greene 1966/1976 Caribbean ARG Argentine Olympic Committee Mario Moccia 1923 South America ARU Aruban Olympic Committee Wanda Broeksema 1985/1986 Caribbean/South America BAH Bahamas Olympic Committee Romell Knowles 1952 Caribbean BAR Barbados Olympic Association Sandra Osborne 1955 Caribbean BIZ Belize Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association Hilberto Martínez 1967 Central America/Caribbean BER Bermuda Olympic Association Peter Dunne 1935/1936 Northern America BOL Bolivian Olympic Committee Marco Antonio Arze Mendoza 1932/1936 South America/Bolivarian BRA Brazilian Olympic Committee Marco Antônio La Porta 1914/1935 South America IVB British Virgin Islands Olympic Committee Ephraim Penn 1980/1982 Caribbean CAN Canadian Olympic Committee Tricia Smith 1904/1907 Northern America CAY Cayman Islands Olympic Committee Lorette Powell (acting) 1973/1976 Caribbean CHI Chilean Olympic Committee Miguel Ángel Mujica 1934 South America/Bolivarian COL Colombian Olympic Committee Ciro Solano Hurtado 1936/1948 South America/Caribbean/Bolivarian CRC Costa Rican Olympic Committee Alexánder Zamora Gomez 1953/1954 Central America/Caribbean CUB Cuban Olympic Committee Roberto León Richards Aguiar 1926/1954 Caribbean DMA Dominica Olympic Committee Billy Doctrove 1987/1993 Caribbean DOM Dominican Republic Olympic Committee Antonio Acosta Corletto 1946/1962 Caribbean/Bolivarian ECU Ecuadorian National Olympic Committee Cap. Jorge Delgado Panchana 1948/1959 South America/Bolivarian ESA El Salvador Olympic Committee Jose Armando Bruni Ochoa 1949/1962 Central America/Bolivarian GRN Grenada Olympic Committee Cheney Joseph 1984 Caribbean GUA Guatemalan Olympic Committee Gerardo Aguirre 1947 Central America/Caribbean/Bolivarian GUY Guyana Olympic Association Kalam Azad Juman-Yassin 1935/1948 South America HAI Haitian Olympic Committee Hans Larsen 1914/1924 Caribbean HON Honduran Olympic Committee José Ubaldo Zavala Valladares 1956 Central America/Caribbean JAM Jamaica Olympic Association Christopher Samuda 1936 Caribbean MEX Mexican Olympic Committee María José Alcalá 1923 Central America/Caribbean NCA Nicaraguan Olympic Committee Emmett Lang Salmerón 1959 Central America/Caribbean PAN Panama Olympic Committee Camilo Amado 1934/1947 Central America/Caribbean/South America/Bolivarian PAR Paraguayan Olympic Committee Camilo Pérez López Moreira 1970 South America/Bolivarian PER Peruvian Olympic Committee Renzo Manyari 1924/1936 South America/Bolivarian PUR Puerto Rico Olympic Committee Sara Rosario 1948 Caribbean SKN Saint Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee Alphonso Bridgewater 1986/1993 Caribbean LCA Saint Lucia Olympic Committee Alfred Emmanuel 1987/1993 Caribbean VIN Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee George Trevor Bailey 1982/1987 Caribbean SUR Suriname Olympic Committee Ramon Tjon-A-Fat 1959 South America TTO Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee Diane Henderson 1946/1948 Caribbean USA United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Gene Sykes 1894 Northern America URU Uruguayan Olympic Committee Julio César Maglione 1923 South America VEN Venezuelan Olympic Committee Eduardo Álvarez Camacho 1935 South America/Caribbean/Bolivarian ISV Virgin Islands Olympic Committee Angel L. Morales 1967 Caribbean

Former member: Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee

There are some nations which are not members of the Panam Sports because they are not independent countries:

Anguilla, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat, and the Turks and Caicos Islands are British Overseas Territories without internal autonomy and so failed to create their own National Olympic Committees and therefore are not members of the Panam Sports. Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten are parts of the Dutch Caribbean since 2010. With the Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles later in that year, the athletes from these territories were allowed to compete at the 2011 Pan American Games with the older denomination. This also happened with these athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but they were parts of the Independent Olympic Athletes team. Since 2013, athletes from these five territories have been representing Aruba instead. French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon are not members of the Panam Sports as they are overseas departments and collectivities of France. Nevertheless, French Guiana participated in the 1951 Pan American Games. Guadeloupe and Martinique also competed in the 2003 Pan American Games. Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark and geopolitically associated with Europe. Greenland is the only Northern America territory which is not a member of Panam Sports.

Presidents

S. No. Name Country Tenure 1. Avery Brundage 1948–1951 2. José de Jesús Clark Flores 1951–1955 3.Doug Roby 1955–1959 4. José de Jesús Clark Flores 1959–1971 5. Sylvio de Magalhaes Padilha 1971–1971 6.José Beracasa 1971–1975 7.Mario Vázquez Raña 1975–2015 8.Ivar Sisniega 2015–2015 9.Julio César Maglione 2015–2017 10. Neven Ilic 2017–present Served as acting president for two months until new election.

Athlete Commission In 2011, a new Panam Sports Athlete Commission was formed. Former Canadian rhythmic gymnast and three-time Pan American Games gold medalist Alexandra Orlando was selected the president of the commission. The commission will be made up of seven athletes (five current and two former) with two being reserved for non-Olympic sports.

Member Country Since Pan American Games Participation Alexandra Orlando 2011 2003–2007 Mijaín López 2011 2003–2019 Samyr Lainé 2011 2003–2011 Andrea Estrada 2011 2011 Guillermo Perez 2011 2011 Pedro Causil 2011 2011 Shannon Nishi 2011 2011

Debut of countries per Games Games Host YearDebuting Countries Total I Buenos Aires 1951, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 20 II Mexico City 1955, , , , . 5 III Chicago1959. 1 IV São Paulo 1963. 1 V Winnipeg 1967 , , , . 4 VI Cali 1971 – 0 VII Mexico City 1975 . 1 VIII San Juan 1979 . 1 IX Caracas 1983 , . 2 X Indianapolis 1987 , , . 3 XI Havana 1991 . 1 XII Mar del Plata 1995 , , . 3 XIII Winnipeg 1999 – 0 XIV Santo Domingo 2003 – 0 XV Rio de Janeiro 2007 – 0 XVI Guadalajara 2011 – 0 XVII Toronto 2015 – 0 XVIII Lima 2019 - 0 XIX Santiago 2023 - 0 XX Lima 2027 Future - XXI -2031 Future -

Exclusion of indigenous sports Despite criticisms that Ulama, the Mesoamerican Ballgame and Lacrosse are not included in the program of the Pan American Games, the number of countries practicing the sport is too small for the sports to be added to the program. As of 2023, there are 19 national federations in the Americas affiliated with World Lacrosse with a minimum number of Panam Sports recognition being 14 (Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, United States, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Chile, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and the United States Virgin Islands). However, the Iroquois nation is not recognized as a National Olympic Committee by Panam Sports or the IOC. Thus, there are at this time 14 regional member nations of World Lacrosse, enough for the sport to be included in the Pan Am Games as early as 2027 or 2031. Lacrosse is recognized by the Global Association of International Sports Federations and by the International Olympic Committee and will be played in a six-a-side format at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but the number of National Federations have to grow to sport to be added at the Pan-An Games program. However, this is not the case with ulama, which inhibits its participation in the Pan American Games. It is a possibility that lacrosse will be included in the program of the Games in the future.

See also Americas Paralympic Committee Pan American Games

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