1987 Pan American Games

X Pan American Games official logo
X Pan American Games official logo
Host city Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Nations participating 38
Athletes participating 4,360
Events 387 sessions in 30 sports
Opening ceremony 8 August 1987
Closing ceremony 23 August 1987
Officially opened by George H. W. Bush
Pan American Torch Wilma Rudolph
Main Stadium Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The 2007 Pan American Games, officilly known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event which was celebrated in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, from 7 August to 23 August 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas competed in 30 sports earning 1,015 medals. Events were held at 23 venues in and around Indianapolis. The official mascot for the games was Amigo, a green parrot.

Contents

Host City Election

Santiago, Chile, was originally named the host of the 10th Pan American Games. Due to the political and financial problems, however, the city withdrew in 1984. Quito, Ecuador, was named to replace Santiago. In late 1984, Quito also withdrew. Desperate, PASO held a new election. Indianapolis was planning to bid on the 1991 Games but submitted a bid for 1987. Havana, Cuba, was also interested. Indianapolis won, angering Fidel Castro. PASO appeased him by agreeing to give Havana the 1991 games provided that Cuba participated at Indianapolis.

Venues

The 1987 Pan Am Games were held at 23 sites total. The athletes' village was located at Fort Benjamin Harrison.

The Pan Am Games brought about $175 million to Indianapolis's economy.2

Ceremonies

The Opening ceremony was held on the main straightaway of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. About 80,000 spectators watched a performance produced by The Walt Disney Company with 6,500 performers in the largest outdoor live entertainment show held in the United States up to that point.3 It was also the largest Opening Ceremony of the Pan Am games yet. Dignitaries included IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, Indianapolis Mayor William H. Hudnut III, Indiana Governor Robert D. Orr, and PASO President Mario Vazquez Raña. Vice President George Bush officially opened the games.

Flag bearers in the Parade of Nations included the games' oldest athlete, 70-year-old yachtsman Durwood Knowles of the Bahamas, basketball star José Ortiz of Puerto Rico, and baseball pitcher Jim Abbott of the United States.3

The final leg of the torch relay had the flame passed from Oscar Robertson to Kristie Phillips to Wilma Rudolph who lit the cauldron.3

The closing ceremony took place in the Hoosier Dome. The headline act was Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan and her band Miami Sound Machine.3

Symbols

The logo of the 1987 Pan Am Games consisted of five stylized Xs, the Roman numeral for ten. The mascot was Amigo, a green parrot. The official music of the X Pan American Games was Pan American Fanfare by Lalo Schifrin.

Television

The rights for the 1987 games were won by CBS with a bid of $4,000,000, and Brent Musburger hosted. CBS aired 26 hours of coverage, all on weekend afternoons, including live coverage of the Opening Ceremony from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Additionally, CBS provided the world feed. The ratings were boosted by the participation of Cuban athletes on U.S. soil, providing a USA-Cuba showdown in many events.

Participating nations

38 nations participated in the tenth Pan American Games. Four countries played for the first time in 1987: Aruba, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and Grenada.3

Medal table

Host country in bold.

Pos Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States 168 118 83 369
2 Cuba 75 52 48 175
3 Canada 30 57 75 162
4 Brazil 14 14 33 61
5 Argentina 12 14 22 48
6 Mexico 9 11 18 38
7 Venezuela 3 11 12 26
8 Colombia 3 8 13 24
9 Puerto Rico 3 6 20 29
10 Costa Rica 3 4 4 11
11 Jamaica 2 3 8 13
12 Uruguay 2 2 3 7
13 Chile 1 2 4 7
14 Suriname 1 0 1 2
15 Peru 0 4 2 6
16 Dominican Republic 0 3 9 12
17 Panama 0 3 1 4
18 Bahamas 0 2 3 5
19 Ecuador 0 1 5 6
20= US Virgin Islands 0 1 1 2
20= Trinidad & Tobago 0 1 1 2
22 Guatemala 0 0 2 2
23= Bermuda 0 0 1 1
23= El Salvador 0 0 1 1
23= Guyana 0 0 1 1
23= Paraguay 0 0 1 1

Gymnast Scott Johnson (USA) and swimmer Silvia Poll (CRC) won the most medals at the games with eight each. Roller skater Jose Luis Lozano (ARG) won the most gold medals with five.3

Sports

  • A thirty sports were contested at the tenth Pan American Games for a total of 321 events. Five were contested for the first time in 1987.

References

  1. ^ Bodenhamer, David J. (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. pp. 1074. ISBN 9780253312228. http://books.google.com/books?id=bg13QcMSsq8C. Retrieved on 29 December 2008. 
  2. ^ Price, Nelson (2004). Indianapolis Then & Now. San Diego, California: Thunder Bay Press. pp. 77. ISBN 1-59223-208-6. 
  3. ^ a b c d e f The Games of August: Official Commemorative Book. Indianapolis: Showmasters. 1987. ISBN 9780961967604. 
v • d • e
Pan American Games
Summer:
1951 | 1955 | 1959 | 1963 | 1967 | 1971 | 1975 | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015
Winter:
Nations:

Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 30 December 2008, at 23:15.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by PediaView.com. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with PediaView.com.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "1987 Pan American Games".

The URL for this specific entry is:

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.