Indianapolis Pan American Games

Rainbow over blue logo with black text surrounding on white background.

The Pan American Games, also known as the Pan Am Games, is a major sporting event in the Americas that features summer sports. These take place every 4 years in the summer before the Summer Olympics are held. The XVIII Pan Am Games were held in Lima, Peru, in 2019. The first Pan Am Games were thought up in the 1930's, and the first games were slated for 1942, but these were postponed due to WWII. The first Pan Am Games took place in 1951 in Buenos Aires, with 18 sports offered. The following year, the second Pan Am Games were held in Mexico before switching to being every 4 years.

The 1987 Pan American Games, also known as the X Pan American Games, took place from August 7th-the 23rd and included over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in North, South, and Central America. Competitions in 30 sporting events took place in 23 venues around Indianapolis, Indiana, and 1,015 medals were awarded. The official logo for the 10th Pan Am Games consisted of 5 stylized X’s, the Roman numeral for 10. The mascot was Amigo, a green parrot that represented friendliness and festivity. Both the logo and mascot were created by local Indianapolis residents. The opening ceremony was held on the main straight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the site of the Indianapolis 500. The X Pan Am Games were financially successful, bringing in $175 million dollars to the local economy and cost around $30 million to put on, making Indianapolis the first Pan Am Games to break even. This also led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to consider Indianapolis for their headquarters and in 1997, they made the move to Indianapolis.