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.

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO
12 OCT - 2 NOV 1926
3 Countries
7 Sports
269 Athletes
LA HABANA, CUBA
15 MAR - 2 5 APR 1930
8 Countries
10 Sports
632 Athletes
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
16 MAR - 5 APR 1935
9 Countries
14 Sports
741 Athletes
CIUDAD DE PANAMÁ, PANAMÁ
5 FEB - 24 FEB 1938
10 Countries
18 Sports
1216 Athletes
BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA
8 DEC - 28 DEC 1946
13 Countries
19 Sports
1540 Athletes
CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA
28 FEB - 12 MAR 1950
14 Countries
19 Sports
1390 Athletes
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, MÉXICO
12 MAR - 19 MAR 1954
12 Countries
19 Sports
1321 Athletes
CARACAS, VENEZUELA
6 JAN - 15 JAN 1959
12 Countries
17 Sports
1150 Athletes
KINGSTON, JAMAICA
15 AUG - 28 AUG 1962
15 Countries
16 Sports
1559 Ahletes
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO
11 JUL - 25 JUL 1966
18 Countries
17 Sports
1689 Athletes
CIUDAD DE PANAMÁ, PANAMÁ
28 FEB - 13 MAR 1970
20 Countries
16 Sports
2095 Athletes
SANTO DOMINGO, REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA
27 FEB - 13 MAR 1974
23 Countries
18 Sports
2052 Athletes
MEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA
7 JUL - 28 JUL 1078
21 Countries
19 Sports
2605 Athletes
LA HABANA, CUBA
7 AUG - 18 AUG 1982
22 Countries
24 Sports
2799 Athletes
SANTIAGO DE LOS CABALLEROS, REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA
24 JUN - 5 JUL 1986
26 Countries
25 Sports
2963 Athletes
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, MÉXICO
20 NOV - 3 DEC 1990
29 Countries
30 Sports
4206 Athletes
PONCE, PUERTO RICO
19 NOV - 30 NOV 1993
31 Countries
32 Sports
3570 Athletes
MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA
8 AUG - 22 AUG 1998
32 Countries
30 Sports
4115 Athletes
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
19 NOV - 30 NOV 2002
31 Countries
37 Sports
4301 Athletes
CARTAGENA DE INDIAS, COLOMBIA
15 JUL - 30 JUL 2006
32 Countries
41 Sports
4865 Athletes
MAYAGÜEZ, PUERTO RICO
17 JUL - 1 AUG 2010
31 Countries
42 Sports
5204 Athletes
VERACRUZ, MÉXICO
14 NOV - 30 NOV 2014
31 Countries
36 Sports
5072 Athletes
BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA
19 JUL - 3 AUG 2018
37 Countries
44 Sports
5425 Athletes
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR
23 JUN -8 JUL 2023
37 Delegates
54 Disciplines
TAKING PLACE EVERY 4 YEARS IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
They are organized by Centro Caribe Sports (formerly ODECABE), with sports such as athletics, swimming, water polo, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, handball, cycling, horseback riding, triathlon, Basque pelota, among others.
The fourth version was held in Panama in 1938 and the fifth version, which was to be held in 1942, was postponed due to World War II, in solidarity with the principles of Olympism and the International Olympic Committee. That fifth version would be held in 1946, in Barranquilla, a city on the Colombian Caribbean coast.
Until 2011, the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee was part of the entity; the committee ceased to exist with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010. Guadeloupe, Martinique, Curaçao, 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 comprising Central America and the Caribbean Sea basin. It is the oldest regional multidisciplinary event in the world. The Central American and Caribbean Games are organized by Centro Caribe Sports.