Pan American Games are a series of athletic contests patterned after the Olympic Games and sponsored by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). PASO is made up of Western Hemisphere nations. The games are held once every four years, usually the year before the summer Olympic Games. For more information, see Olympic Games .
The Pan American Games were inaugurated after World War II by the Pan American Sports Congress, which became PASO in 1967, as a way to increase good will among the countries of the Americas. The first Pan American Games were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1951.
