On the way to London 2012!

Athletics

Did you know that Guatemalan runner Julio Urías earned a bronze medal for placing third in the men’s 50 km race walk at the 1995 Pan American Games?

Boxing

Did you know? Without a doubt, Alexis Arguello was one of the most successful professional boxers in the world. He certainly was the toast of the Latin American sports community. Between 1974 and 1983, former Nicaraguan boxer Alexis Argüello won six world championships (featherweight and lightweight) and became an icon in Latin America. Sports Illustrated published an interview with Argüello in October 1985.

Panamerican Games

Did you know that- In October 1975, the Panama Olympic Committee sent a national delegation, made up of 19 athletes, to Mexico City to participate in the Pan American Games, the most important pre-Olympic event in the Western Hemisphere since 1951. Panama competed in six sports: aquatics (1), cycling (5), fencing (1), shooting (6), weightlifting (2) and wrestling (4). Two weightlifters, Narciso Orán and Pablo Justiniani, and a wrestler, Segundo Olmedo, were the most outstanding national athletes in the international games. Ironically Guy Abrahams, the best athlete in the country, did not compete in Mexico. The following year, Abrahams, an Afro-Panamanian sprinter, finished fifth in the men’s 100m, with a time of 10.25 seconds, at the 1976 Montreal Games.

Host country

Did you know that Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, hosted the Caribbean Boxing Tournament in 1984? Eight nations competed in the international event: Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the host country. Puerto Rico and Venezuela did not compete in Managua. Nicaraguan boxer Gustavo Herrera won the gold medal in the 54-kilogram category at the 1984 Central American and Caribbean Tournament.

Panamerican Games

Did you know- The Nicaraguan Olympic Committee did not participate in three Pan American Games: in 1951 in Buenos Aires (Argentina), in 1959 in Chicago (United States), and in Sao Paulo (Brazil) in 1963.

Softball

Did you know that the Guatemalan men’s softball team placed eighth in the Central American and Caribbean Games in 1982?

Swimming

Did you know? Towards the end of the 1990s, Panamanian swimmer Eileen Coparropa, the country’s top female athlete at the time, captured a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. During the last Games, in 1995, she had finished fifth in the women’s 50 meters.

taekwondo

Did you know that taekwondo, an Olympic sport, is a popular sport in Costa Rica and Guatemala?

athletics

Did you know? At the 1938 Central American and Caribbean Games, Jennings Blackett (Panama) set a new international record of 10.4 seconds in the men’s 100m, one of the best records from the 1930s.

Volleyball

Did you know? By 1974, Panama won the right to compete in the Men’s Volleyball World Cup in the United States of Mexico. This Spanish-speaking nation became the first Central American country to participate in the FIVB World Championships.