Central American and Caribbean Games
On 4 July 1924, during the Paris Olympic Games, representatives from Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela met to establish a gathering to be called the Central American Games, beginning in 1926 and being held every four years. The goal was to create a competition in which athletes could participate for the sole pleasure of taking part in it and for the physical, mental, social, and moral benefits that result from such participation. These games are now the world’s oldest continuous regional games.
History
The first two editions of the games were called the Central American Games, but in 1934 the title “Central American and Caribbean Games” was adopted to reflect the participation of the Caribbean nations.
EARLY GAMES
At the first games Cuba and Guatemala visited Mexico City, and 269 athletes participated in eight sports. Guatemala’s president died on the eve of the games, but Guatemala still decided to send a team.
The U.S. ambassador to Cuba, Harry F. Guggenheim, insisted that Puerto Rico be included in the second games in Havana in 1930. A last-minute effort was needed to pull together a team of four athletes, and money was raised by donations from Puerto Rican citizens to fly them by plane, a rarity at that time, to Havana. That year, also, women competed in the games for the first time, in tennis.
San Salvador, El Salvador, hosted the next edition of the games, which were held early in 1935, having been postponed for a year due to an earthquake that hit El Salvador in 1934.
The fourth games were held in Panama City, Panama, from 4–24 February 1938. Jamaica participated for the first time, becoming the first Englishspeaking nation to join in the games. Unruly crowds led to the cancellation of both the men’s and women’s basketball final games because the safety of the visiting teams could not be guaranteed.
POSTWAR GAMES
The 1942 edition of the games was cancelled due to World War II, but the games were revived in 1946 in Baranquilla, Columbia, with the next games held in 1950 in Guatemala City, Guatemala.The 1954 games were scheduled to be held in Panama City, but because of the country’s economic problems at the time, Panama had to forego the games. Mexico City volunteered to host the events.
The eighth edition was postponed one year, to 1959, due to political unrest in Venezuela. Cuba did not attend, because of the unrest associated with their revolution.
Jamaica became the first English-speaking host nation when it sponsored the games in 1962 in Kingston. Athletes from the Bahamas and Barbados competed for the first time.
THE BATTLE OF CERRO PELADO
The 1966 games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, are significant for “the battle of Cerro Pelado.” Many factions wanted to ban Cuba from the games for political reasons after Castro’s rise to power, but Don German Rieckehoff, president of the organizing committee, stood alone in his insistence that Cuba be allowed to compete in the games.While the argument raged, the Cubans’ boat, the “Cerro Pelado,” was not allowed into Puerto Rican waters. Though under intense pressure, Rieckehoff stood firm and finally convinced the governor of Puerto Rico to change his mind. The governor agreed to allow the Cubans into the country, but they had to leave their boat and be picked up and brought to shore on a ship of Puerto Rican ownership, which they did, and Cuba was able to participate in the games.
CUBAN DOMINATION
Mexico, until that point, had been the dominant sports nation, finishing atop the medals standings in nine of the previous ten games (the exception was Havana in 1930). In Panama City in 1970, Cuba took over and become the dominant athletic nation in the region.The Cubans won medals in every team sport and dominated in gymnastics athletics, wrestling, boxing, fencing, and judo. Cuba won ninety-nine gold medals; all other nations combined just eighty-two gold medals.
Cuba continued their domination in the 1974 games, held in Santo Domingo, and in the 1978 games in Medellin, but they broke all their previous records when they hosted the games in Havana in 1982 (originally awarded to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) and took 173 of the total of 248 available gold medals.
The sixteenth games were scheduled to be held in Guatemala, until the Guatemalan government pulled its financial support early in 1990. Mexico fortunately stepped in and hastily organized the games for later that year, the second time that Mexico had rescued the games. Carlos Salinas de Gortari, president of Mexico, opened the games on the anniversary of Mexico’s revolution.
The seventeenth edition of the games was held a bit early, in November of 1993, in Ponce, Puerto Rico. At least forty-two Cubans defected over the course of the games, but Cuba set another record, taking 180 gold medals.
The eighteenth edition of the games, held in August 1998 in Maracaibo, Venezuela, broke records for participation with 1,827 female and 3,487 male athletes, for a total of 5,314.
CUBAN WITHDRAWAL
Cuba surprised everyone in 2002 when it announced that it would not be participating in the games in El Salvador. The two nations have not had diplomatic relations since 1961. Cuba cited concerns about security, possible coercions to defect, kidnappings, and even the possibility that Vice President Jose Ramon Fernandez, the president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, might be assassinated. It was only the second time that Cuba had missed the games, and several nations took advantage of Cuba’s absence by winning more medals than they ever had at the games. One member of Venezuela’s rowing team drowned after their rowing shell capsized during practice on Lake Coatepeque before the games.
The Future
The 2006 games are scheduled to be held in Cartagena, Colombia. Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, has been chosen over Guatemala City to host the 2010 games.
Daniel Bell
Categories: Sporting Events