2023 Parapan American Games

The 2023 Parapan American Games, officially the VII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Santiago 2023 Parapan-Am Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities. It celebrated the tradition of the Parapan American Games as governed by the Americas Paralympic Committee and was held from 17 to 26 November 2023 in Santiago, Chile.
Two bids were submitted for the 2023 Pan American Games. Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina both submitted bids. On February 1, 2017, the Pan American Sports Organization (now Panam Sports) announced the two cities as the official bids. Buenos Aires withdrew their bid in April 2017 due to not having the necessary finances or logistics to host this event and the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics.
Santiago was unanimously acclaimed as the host city at the ANOC General Assembly in Prague on November 4, 2017. This will mark the first time Chile hosts the Pan and Parapan American Games. Santiago was initially awarded the right to host the 1975 and later 1987 Pan American Games, but withdrew as host both times due to financial and political problems. Most recently, Santiago was a candidate for the 2019 Parapan American Games but lost to Lima.
The budget for the Games is $507 million USD, with $170 million reserved for the building of ten new sporting venues and the upgrade of six arenas. The budget is about 36% of what was spent for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada and 50% of the last Pan American Games in 2019, in Lima, Peru.
Various venues across Santiago and the metropolitan region will host the Games.
In June 2022, organizers revealed the final plan consisting of 14 venues. And all venues are located in the Santiago area, some often will be used in an exclusive way at the Games.
In December 2021, a ceremony was held to lay the first brick for the village. The village is expected to cost approximately $100 million USD, and will consist of 1,345 apartments. After the games, the village will be converted to social housing. The village is being built in the Cerrillos Bicentennial Park community of Santiago.
In a groundbreaking move worldwide, the 2023 Parapan American Games introduced AI-generated audio diplomas for visually impaired and blind athletes. Utilizing a unique 50-second recording of Julio César Ávila, President of the Americas Paralympic Committee, artificial intelligence technology was employed to create personalized audio diplomas for over 500 athletes. This innovation not only enhanced the recognition of athletes' achievements but also set a new standard for inclusivity and accessibility in international sports events.
This initiative underscores the commitment of the Americas Paralympic Committee to leveraging cutting-edge technology to promote inclusivity and accessibility in sports.
The opening ceremony was held on November 17, 2023, at the Estadio Nacional do Chile, while the closing ceremony was held on November 26, 2023, in Parapan-American Village, located in the Parque Bicentenario de Cerrillos.
There were formal moments such as cultural presentations, a parade of delegations affiliated to Americas Paralympic Committee, welcome speeches by members of PanAm Sports and the International Paralympic Committee, in addition to the inauguration of the Parapan-American cauldron.
Among the musical performances, the following artists participated: Anita Tijoux, Beto Cuevas, Denise Rosenthal, Flor de Rap, Kya, Movimento Original and Pablo Chill-E. Both Anita Tijoux and the group Movimiento Original have already performed at the opening of the Pan American Games.
The closing ceremony was held on the night of November 26, 2023 in the ceremonial area of the Cerrillos Bicentennial Park, where the Pan-American Village was built. As the protocol determines, their cultural presentations, the parade of flags by members of Americas Paralympic Committee, thank-you and closing speeches by members of APC, the tributes and the thanks to the volunteers and the handover ceremony of the APC flag to the authorities of next host city, which until then would be the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. containing also the presentation of figures about Colombian culture and the There was also a 15-minute cultural demonstration of Colombian culture and the ceremony ended with the cauldron extinction. Among the musical performances, the groups Santaferia, Banda Conmoción and Los Ramblers and the singers Princesa Alba and Gepe participated. However, this presentation and the passing of the flag became null and void on January 24, 2024, as a result of the revocation of the Colombian city's rights as host of the 2027 Pan and Parapan American Games. A few days later, on March 12 of the same year, Pan-Am Sports decided to hand over the Games to the Peruvian capital Lima.
Thirty-one National Paralympic Committees will participate at the Games. Grenada made their debut appearance at the Parapan American Games. The Virgin Islands returned to participate after last competing in the 2015 edition. Suriname, which last participated in the 2019 edition, was absent.
Following the rules of the Americas Paralympic Committee, in which a maximum of 17 sports can be part of the Games program. Thus, 378 finals were held in 16 Paralympic sports and one regional sport. Due to the recent record of their athletes, the organizers decided to replace sitting volleyball with archery. It is noted that this is the first time in history that the sport has been outside the Parapan American Games sporting program. The removal of the sport was also due to the fact that Chile does not have a national federation of the sport. Thus, the Pan-American Sports Federation held an extra edition of the Sitting Volleyball Pan American Championship was held between 9 and 13 May 2023 to define the representatives of the Americas at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
* Host nation (Chile)
The Games share most of its branding with the 2023 Pan American Games, including its emblem unveiled in July 2019, and its mascot Fiu—a many-colored rush tyrant—which was announced on October 16, 2021, following an online poll.