The Pacific Ocean Games ( es, Juegos del Océano Pacífico) was a

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

between countries of the Pacific Rim. It was held only once, in 1995 from June 23 to July 3 in Cali, Colombia.Bell, Daniel (2003). ''Encyclopedia of International Games'', pp. 291–2. McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. . Some events were also hosted in the Colombian cities of Buenaventura,

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, Pereira,

Manizales Manizales () is a city in central Colombia. It is the capital of the Department of Caldas, and lies near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Currently, the city is the main center for the production of Colombian coffee and an important hub for higher ...

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...

Overview

Led by Jorge Herrera Barona, the head of the

Colombian Olympic Committee The Colombian Olympic Committee or COC ( es, Comité Olímpico Colombiano – COC) is the governing Olympic body of Colombia. Its mission is the coordination of efforts to protect the Olympic movement and consolidate its development, compli ...

, the games followed on from the country's hosting of the

1971 Pan American Games * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and

1978 Central American and Caribbean Games The 13th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Medellín, Colombia from July 7 to July 28, 1978, and included 2,605 athletes from nineteen nations, competing in 21 sports. Sports * * References Meta* Central American and Ca ...

. A total of thirteen sports were contested, with 38 nations and around 3000 athletes making the start lists. The

Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero The Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero is a football stadium, also used for athletics, concerts, and rugby sevens, in Santiago de Cali, Colombia which is named to honor the poet Pascual Guerrero. The stadium and the sports complex that surrounds ...

in Cali was the main stadium for the event. The games were opened by Colombian President

Ernesto Samper Ernesto Samper Pizano (born 3 August 1950) is a Colombian politician. Samper is a member of the influential Samper family. He served as the President of Colombia from 1994 to 1998, representing the Liberal Party. From 2014 to 2017 he served ...

. The opening ceremony featured Colombian orchestras, a ballet by Sonia Osorio (''Leyenda de El Dorado''), a fashion show of clothing designed by Carlos Arturo Zapata, and dancing exhibitions to music including currulao and

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

. The inauguration was linked with the hosting of the first Congress of National Olympic Committees of the Pacific Rim (ODECOP). This grouping proved short-lived and despite an agreement to host the next Pacific Ocean Games in 1999 in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, and a 2001 Games

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada, the games were disbanded. The host nation had hoped the 1995 event would raise its profile in the region and attract tourists, but many of the city's hotels remained relatively unoccupied during the games. The hosts Colombia easily topped the medal table with 72 golds and 212 medals overall – a number that equalled the combined total medals taken by the next three most successful nations: the United States, China and Taiwan. This reflected the lack of high level competitors sent by the other nations invited to Colombia. It was the first time a games was held for the region, building upon previous individual international sports competitions, such as the

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

-based

Pacific Conference Games The Pacific Conference Games were a quadrennial athletics competition, held between 1969 and 1985 and contested by Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. Each of the five nations hosted an edition of the competition before its ...

(1969–1985), the

Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.Pacific Rim Championships The Pacific Rim Championships is a major regional biennial gymnastics competition. It is open to teams from member nations of the Pacific Alliance of National Gymnastics Federations, namely Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, ...

(launched 1988).Q&A: What to expect at gymnastic championships
''Herald'' (2012-03-14). Retrieved on 2015-03-21.

Sports

Participating nations

References

{{Multi-sport events Defunct multi-sport events Games Multi-sport events in Colombia International sports competitions hosted by Colombia 1995 in Colombian sport 1995 in multi-sport events Multi-sport events in North America Multi-sport events in South America Multi-sport events in Asia Multi-sport events in Oceania