I Junior Pan Am Games: Cali, Monterrey and Santa Ana the Candidates

MEXICO CITY (February 1, 2019) — Three cities are competing to host the first Junior Pan American Games in history by meeting the deadline for bid submissions on January 31. Panam Sports Headquarters in Mexico’s capital received the three official applications from Cali, Colombia; Monterrey, Mexico; and Santa Ana, El Salvador on Thursday.

"I think this is wonderful news. These are three prestigious cities full of tradition in sport. I firmly believe, as I have always said, that this will be a milestone project for the development of sport in the Americas, especially for new generations," said Panam Sports President, Neven Ilic.

With the bids received, work now begins analyzing the benefits and advantages that each city has to offer.

"We are now in an intricate and detailed research process for each of these cities, so we can make sure that our athletes in 2021 have the best experience. The final decision will be made by all of the Executive Committee Members when we get together in Costa Rica at the end of March," President Ilic added.

The Junior Pan American Games are focused on the athletes who are between the ages of 18 and 21. This is a generation which, after participating in youth events, often has fewer opportunities for high-level international competitions due to the significant age gape with the established regional and international competitors in their sports.

Qualifying to the top sporting events in the world such as the Pan American and Olympic Games can sometimes be an insurmountable challenge, causing a negative impact on the motivation and performances of these athletes.

The Junior Pan American Games aim to change this, with one of the many advantages of the event being direct qualification to the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games for the winner of each discipline.

The race to become the first host city for the Junior Pan American Games has begun. Cali, Santa Ana, and Monterrey, three great cities that dream of hosting this great continental event.

THE VOICE OF THE HOST CITIES

"It’s important for our country to have Cali’s aspirations to host the Junior Pan American Games. An important factor for Colombia’s development has undoubtedly been the possibility of having the chance of hosting important multisport events such as the Bolivarian Games and Central American and Caribbean Games. This is the reason why we have applied to host these Games. With all due respect to other countries also aspiring to win the bid, we believe our application will be the favorite of the Executive Committee in their decision-making process," said Colombian Olympic Committee President, Baltazar Medina.

"The city of Monterrey has always stood out for the great development it has not only in the city itself, but also the sports development which is more prominent every day. We count on first-class infrastructure and this is where the Pan American and Olympic level athletes get their training. I believe Monterrey will be a formidable city to host the first ever Junior Pan American Games in 2021. We are ready and we will do what we must to take the corresponding action. All of the cities bidding are giving their maximum effort for these Games to be a total success and for them to become a great tradition," said Mexican Olympic Committee President, Carlos Padilla.

"This is a vision of a city accompanied by the sporting dream of the youth. It would be an honor to receive Panam Sports and all of the youth of the Americas in this city which is my hometown. Sharing the venues in which I grew up training in, the lake in which I rowed, and the mountains that are covered with coffee that have provided opportunity and prosperity to many generations, as well as provided the world with the best coffee. We await the youth of Panam Sports to share sport with one of the most beautiful cities in the Americas, one that’s full of hospitality and heroism and dreams of welcoming these athletes," said President of the Olympic Committee of El Salvador, Eduardo Palomo.

After the evaluation phase throughout February and March, the winning city will be announced at the Panam Sports Executive Committee Meeting taking place March 27-28 in Costa Rica.

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