Panam Sports Stars Honors

(ATR) The inaugural Panam Sports gala will headline a big weekend in Ft. Lauderdale for the continental organization representing 41 National Olympic Committees.

More than 40 athletes and coaches are nominated in nine categories for their performances at the Pan Am Games last July in Lima.

The ceremony will be streamed live on the Panam Sports Channel beginning at 1700 EST with red carpet arrivals of the nominees. The awards gala will take place from 1900 to 2015.

Spanish cable network Univision will produce an hour-long program from the ceremony that will air Dec. 14. Other channels streaming the event include ESPN PLAY, Claro Sport and R7 of Brazil.

The nominees in Best Male Athlete category include Grenada’s Anderson Peters, Francisco Barretto from Brazil, Cuba’s Mijain Lopez, Nicholas Paulof Trinidad Tobago and Venezuelan Ruben Limardo.

Best Female Athlete nominees include Chloe Dygert from the U.S., Delfina Pignatiello from Argentina, Mexican Paola Longoria, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Yulimar Rojas from Venezuela.

The awards gala is just one element of an important weekend in South Florida for Panam Sports.

On Friday and Saturday delegates from NOCs in the region will take part in the annual best practices seminar held each year.

On Sunday the Panam Sports Executive Committee meets for its final regular meeting of the year. Major topics include planning for the inaugural Junior Pan Am Games set for Cali, Colombia in 2021 and an update on the 2023 Pan AM Games in Santiago, Chile.

Despite protests about the government in Chile and a sudden change in CEOs for the organizing committee, Panam Sports President Neven Ilic says the games are not at risk in his hometown.

Reported by Ed Hula.