Post Pan Am Depression

The Pan American Games eluded me until 2023. And I've been in a funk since their conclusion last month. 

Happily, the recent "19th Edition" of the event hosted at Santiago, Chile, added this international athletic festival to my sports CV. 

Too young to travel to the '87 edition of Indianapolis, too American (as in being a U.S. passport bearer) for Havana '91, and too oblivious for most Pan Ams since (save Rio 2007 and Toronto '15), on a whim I applied for Santiago media credentials after learning about the Games' feathered mascot, Fiu, in a pin trade at the World Athletics Championships in Hungary. 

The serendipity of that exchange proved a great memory. What fantastic hosts the Chileans proved to be for the athletes and attendees from Oct. 18 to Nov. 5. 

While client work in Atlanta kept me grounded at home for week one of the Pan Ams, I booked passage from Oct. 28 to Nov. 2 with stopovers in Miami. Thanks to an unruly passenger who disrupted our overnight flight to Chile -- through which fellow passengers and I enjoyed and impromptu and surreal 18-hour layover in Panama City -- it was fun to finally touch down in Santiago in time to attend the first four days of track and field competition at Parque Estadio Nacional, which also hosted aquatics, field hockey and gymnastics venues near the Main Press Center, which was a well-oiled operational machine for over 1,800 accredited journalists. 

Through an organizing committee led by Pan-Am Sports Organization (PASO) President and International Olympic Committee Member Neven Ilic, I learned the 2023 Pan American Games were a first for Chile with over 6,900 competitors. 

My focus turned to track and field entrants from Team USA, which afforded access and introduction to several emerging stars of Team Chile. Highlights from the experience include:

• Witnessing Team USA's two-time Olympian Deanna Price win gold in hammer, followed by her
  medal ceremony (see photo)
• 
  Learning about fellow American Ryan Talbot who won bronze in decathlon with a score of 1,086 (see photo at base of post)
• Capturing on video the last 300 meters of the women's 400m run, during which Team Chile's Martina Weil achieved hometown legendary status on a rain-soaked track (not since Usain Bolt's 100m victory in Rio have a heard such an elated crowd)
• Meeting Isidora "Isi" Jimenez, also of Team Chile, following her silver medal performance in the 4 x 100m relay.

The biggest win of the Santiago experience, however, was finally meeting in person a one-time PR client, fellow Georgian and Team USA's Jordan Gray, who in 2021 launched the Let Women Decathlon campaign for which a half-page New York Times article was a feat for us both (f you have not done so already, please sign the petition). 

In Santiago, Gray competed in heptathlon to earn bronze with a score of 5,494, with Team USA's Erin Marsh earning gold with 5,882 (visiting with her father during day one of heptathlon, I learned Marsh is also from Georgia). 

Off the track I found time to take in a women's water polo match, some field hockey and rhythmic gymnastics and some pin trading, ultimately returning stateside with about 50 new designs. 

The trip also afforded time to visit three great museums including La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's home shared with his mistress, as well as the modern art collection of Museo Ralli steps from the city's fantastic public trails, and the top of South America's tallest building with spectacular views of the surrounding Andes. 

Is a return to the Pan American Games in works? Yes, please count me in for the XXth edition of '27 in Barranquilla, Columbia. 

And a return to Santiago? Absolutely, as soon as possible!

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver