In 2002, the South American Games were held in Brazil
for the first time. Four cities hosted the VII Games:
Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba and Belém.
Among the 15 countries that integrate South American Sports
Organization (ODESUR), Colombia was the only one that
did not send a delegation. Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
Suriname, The Netherland Antilles, Uruguay and Venezuela
were present, breaking the record of number of participants.
From the 1st to the 11th of
August, 2,069 athletes competed in Brazil in 24 sports:
Aquatics (Swimming and Synchronized swimming), Archery,
Athletics, Bowling, Boxing, Canoe/Kayak, Cycling, Fencing,
Futsal, Gymnastics, Golf, Handball, Judo, Karate, Rowing,
Sailing, Shooting, Skating (Artistic and Speed), Taekwondo,
Table tennis, Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
During the 11 days of the Games, many
records were broken inside and outside of the competition
venues. For the first time, one single nation won more
than 300 medals. Brazil also broke the record of gold
medals, winning a total of 148. The previous mark belonged
to Argentina, 114 in the 1982 South American Games,
in Rosario.
After six Argentine victories in the
previous editions of the Games, Brazil finally reached
the top of the charts, with its 148 gold medals in a
total of 333. Venezuela was a pleasant surprise, finishing
second with 97 gold medals and a total 231 medals, surpassing
Argentina, who came in third place with 76 gold medals
in a total of 245.
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