THE HOST CITY
(Coming Soon)
THE OPENING CEREMONIES
The games opened on 12 March in Mar del Plata City Stadium. Due to a massive traffic jam, only half of the 35,000 seats were filled as the ceremony began. The ceremony began with a color guard wearing circa 1900 uniforms. The Argentine President, Carlos Saul Menem, arrived as boos rang out from the crowd. Sitting with him were IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, FIFA President Joao Havalange and soccer legend Pele. Athletes from 42 nations, a record, marched into the stadium, as founding nation Argentina entered first, to cheers and chants from the crowd. After the last nation entered, the parade ended with a group of athletes who competed in the Ist Pan American Games in Buenos Aires in 1951.
PASO President Mario Vasquez Rana then addressed the crowd, saying: "I congratulate Argentina for offering the biggest games in history...surpassed only by the Olympics." He then introduced President Menem, who declared the games open. The Olympic and PASO Flags were raised, and balloons were released. Leonardo Malgor, a marathoner. carried the Pan American Torch into the stadium and ran up the steps to light the Pan American Flame. (Senor Malgor's selection caused some complaints as he is a Uruguayan native.)
Students danced to the games official song "Toda America" (All America), gaucho dancers performed, and a laser light show ended with fireworks.
THE COMPETITION
(Coming Soon)
Click here for list of 1995 Gold Medalists
THE CLOSING CEREMONIES
(Coming Soon)