Eighty days away from the opening ceremony of the Parapan American Games, Panam Sports President,Neven Ilic returned to Peru to visit the venues that will house the largest multi-sports event in the continent, which will be held in Peru for the first time.
Ilic and his executives, Keith Joseph (Panam Sports third Vice-president), Ivar Sisniega, (Secretary General), Sara Rosario (president of the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee) and Nicole Hoevertsz from Aruba, visited the main facilities of the National Sports Village, such as the Athletics Stadium, the Aquatic Center and the Velodrome; as well as the Army Equestrian School, which will house the equestrian sports; and the National Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Pan American Games.
Neven Ilic was welcomed by the Lima 2019 President, Carlos Neuhaus Tudela, at the Army Equestrian School, and visited the venue located in La Molina district. After touring the sports venues, Neven Ilic highlighted their construction speed and remodeling works that will receive around 10,000 athletes and technical officials starting this July.
“I can't praise enough all you’ve done in Lima 2019. How fast these incredible venues have been made. I remember we were here a year and a half ago and there was nothing. Everything was planned by professionals. It was difficult to achieve it, but it was done in less time and with more quality than expected. These are world and Olympic-quality infrastructure works. It is a wonderful legacy for the Peruvian sport. Everyday I feel happier and prouder of what has been done,” stated Panam Sports President.
“We should continue fine-tuning the details on our way to Lima 2019,. It is a great celebration. The infrastructure is almost ready, but Games are much more than that. It should be an amazing experience. There are some details missing but I’m completely sure that with a professional Organizing Committee like this, we are going to achieve it,” he said.
Neven Ilic expressed his expectations for the Pan American Games to be held in Peru. “I have no doubt that Lima 2019 will make history. I’ve never seen something like this anywhere. It's gonna be really hard for Chile 2023 to surpass Lima 2019. It’s a huge challenge, and they might have not realized it yet,” he said.
The Pan American sports representative stated that the continent’s best representatives will come to compete from July as there are 23 qualifying disciplines for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games “We have the best sports representatives in the Americas and around the world. This continent has the best Olympic and world sports representatives and we’re going to enjoy this sports event here in Lima,” stated Neven Ilic.
ABOUT LIMA 2019
The Pan American Games will gather 6680 athletes from 41 countries and delegations from the Americas. There will be 17 days of competitions and ceremonies between July 26 and August 11, which will take place in 14 districts of Lima and Callao at various venues like VIDENA, Villa María Sports Center, Callao Regional Village, Villa El Salvador Sports Center, Punta Rocas, among others.
The Lima 2019 Pan American Games will include 39 sports and 62 disciplines, in which athletes will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. A total of 23 disciplines are qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 the Olympic Games.
The Parapan American Games will gather 1890 Para athletes from 33 countries, participating in 17 sports and 18 disciplines. The competitions will take place between August 23 and September 1, 2019. Fourteen sports will be qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
ABOUT PANAM SPORTS
Panam Sports (formerly known as Pan American Sports Organization - PASO) is the governing body of the Pan American Games and its structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter. Panam Sports is the leader of sports and the Olympic Movement in the Americas and encourages the sports development and supports the work of the 41 National Olympic Committees members of the organization in order to inspire more world-class performances and the next generation of athletes across our region.