Santiago Hosts Pan American Games; Honors Indigenous Culture, Poetry and Pinochet Era Memories

Santiago inaugurates first Pan American Games with multi-faceted spectacle highlighting its unique cultural fabric, while ensuring victims of past dictatorship are not forgotten; around 7,000 athletes from 41 nations will compete, boosting Chile's prominence in global sports.

The opening ceremony of Chile’s first Pan American Games served not only as a celebration of athletes and indigenous cultures, but also highlighted the country’s history under the dictatorship of Gen. Pinochet from 1973-1990.
The Pan American flame, which marked the most anticipated moment of the event, came through the ‘tunnel of memory’ in the National Stadium in Santiago, a poignant reminder of the stadium's past as a center of torture and executions following the coup d’etat five decades ago.
Nearly 7,000 athletes from 41 countries are set to compete in the games, with more than 100 qualifying spots for next year's Paris Olympics up for grabs.
The U.S. team of 631 athletes includes 93 Olympians and 32 Olympic medalists, more than any other nation; notable representatives include 22-year-old gymnast Jordan Chiles, a silver medalist in the 2020 games in Japan, and 34-year-old shooter Vincent Hancock, a three-time Olympic gold medalist.
The event, which took place at the renovated National Stadium, also celebrated Chile’s most famous poets, Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, and paid tribute to the indigenous cultures of Chile.