Central
American and
Caribbean Games
Brief history of the games
The games were born thanks to the initiative of the Mexican Olympic Society who, after Mexico’s poor performance in the Paris 1924 Olympic Games, decided to organize a multi-sport event among Central American countries so that sports in these nations would increase their competitive level.
Cuba and Guatemala supported the project and Mexicans Alfredo Cuellar and Enrique Aguirre negotiated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to obtain international endorsement.
The act of creation of the Games was signed in Paris on July 4, 1924, making it the oldest regional competition endorsed by the IOC.
Mexico, although most of its territory is in North America, was the organizer of the first version of the Games. It is considered to participate because the portion of its territory south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has coasts in the western Caribbean and because of its cultural ties, much closer to the Latin American population of the rest of Central America than to English-speaking North America.
The Games in years
37
Delegations54
Disciplines
37
Delegations54
Disciplines5425
athletes
31
Delegations36
Disciplines5072
athletes
31
Delegations42
Disciplines5204
athletes
32
Delegations41
Disciplines4865
athletes31
Delegations37
Disciplines4301
athletes32
Delegations30
Disciplines4115
athletes31
Delegations32
Disciplines3570
athletes29
Delegations30
Disciplines4206
athletes26
Delegations25
Disciplines2963
athletes22
Delegations24
Disciplines2799
athletes21
Delegations19
Disciplines2605
athletes3
Delegations7
Disciplines269
athletes20
Delegations16
Disciplines2095
athletes18
Delegations17
Disciplines1689
athletes15
Delegations16
Disciplines1559
athletes12
Delegations17
Disciplines1150
athletes12
Delegations19
Disciplines1321
athletes14
Delegations19
Disciplines1390
athletes13
Delegations19
Disciplines1540
athletes10
Delegations18
Disciplines1216
athletes9
Delegations14
Disciplines741
athletes8
Delegations10
Disciplines632
athletes3
Delegations7
Disciplines269
athletes
Held every 4 years in Central America and the Caribbean
They are organized by Centro Caribe Sports (formerly ODECABE), featuring sports such as athletics, swimming, water polo, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, handball, cycling, equestrian, triathlon, Basque pelota, among others.
The fourth edition took place in Panama in 1938, and the fifth, which was scheduled for 1942, was postponed due to the Second World War, in solidarity with the principles of Olympism and with the International Olympic Committee. The fifth edition would be celebrated in 1946, in Barranquilla, a coastal city in the Colombian Caribbean.
Until 2011, the Olympic Committee of the Netherlands Antilles was part of the organization; the committee ceased to exist with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. Guadeloupe, Martinique, Curacao, French Guiana, Sint Maarten, and Turks and Caicos have been accepted as new participants.
The Central American and Caribbean Games are a multi-sport event held every 4 years since 1926 in different cities of countries within the region encompassing Central America and the Caribbean basin. It is the oldest regional multi-disciplinary event in the world. The Central American and Caribbean Games are organized by the organization Centro Caribe Sports.
Commemorative Books
BARRANQUILLA 2018
VERACRUZ 2014
MAYAGÜEZ 2010
CARTAGENA DE INDIAS 2006
SAN SALVADOR 2002
MARACAIBO 1998
PONCE 1993
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 1990
SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS 1986
HABANA 1982
MEDELLÍN 1978
SANTO DOMINGO 1974
CIUDAD DE PANAMÁ 1970
SAN JUAN 1966
KINGSTON 1962
CARACAS 1959
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 1954
CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA 1950
BARRANQUILLA 1946
CIUDAD DE PANAMÁ 1938
SAN SALVADOR 1935
LA HABANA 1930
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO 1926