Central American and Caribbean Games Information & Central American and Caribbean Games Links at HealthHaven.com

Central American and Caribbean Games
(Spanish) *los Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos y del Caribe*
	;
First Event	October 30 - November 2, 1926
Occur every	4 years
Last Event	July 15 - July 30, 2006
Purpose	Sports for Central American and Caribbean people
Website	2010 Official Website

The Central American and Caribbean Games (or CACs) are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial (every 4 years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The Games are for countries in Central America and the Caribbean (including Bermuda), as well as a few South American countries that border the Caribbean Sea such as Venezuela.

The Games are overseen by the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization (CASCO) (the organization also goes by the acronym "ODECABE" (pronounced "O-da-cob-be") from its full Spanish name: Organización Deportiva Centroamericana y del Caribe). They are designed to provide a step between sub-CAC-region Games held the first year following a Summer Olympics (e.g. Central American Games) and the Continental Championships, the Pan American Games, held the year before the Summer Olympics.

The most recent CACs occurred in July 2006 in Cartagena, Colombia. The next edition will take place in the second half of July 2010 in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

[edit] History

The CACs are the oldest continuing regional games in the world,^[1] and only the Olympics have run longer. Mexico, Cuba and Guatemala were the three countries present at the first games, which were then called the Central American Games. In 1935 their name was changed to Central American and Caribbean Games to reflect expanding participation. Thirty one nations took part in the 1993 games in Puerto Rico and the 1998 games in Venezuela. The 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games ended on July 30, 2006.

It should be noted that a "Central American Games" does exist today, Juegoes Centroamericana, involving just Central American countries.

[edit] Editions

Year	Event	Host city		Duration	Countries	Sports	Athletes
1926	I Central American Games			October 30 November 2	3	9	269
1926	I Central American Games	Mexico City	Mexico	October 30 November 2	3	9	269
1930	II Central American Games			March 15 April 15	9	9	606
1930	II Central American Games	La Habana	Cuba	March 15 April 15	9	9	606
1935	III Central American and Caribbean Games			March 16 April 5	9	13	741
1935	III Central American and Caribbean Games	San Salvador	El Salvador	March 16 April 5	9	13	741
1938	IV Central American and Caribbean Games			February 5 February 24	10	16	1216
1938	IV Central American and Caribbean Games	Panama City	Panama	February 5 February 24	10	16	1216
1946	V Central American and Caribbean Games			March 5 March 25	13	17	1540
1946	V Central American and Caribbean Games	Barranquilla	Colombia	March 5 March 25	13	17	1540
1950	VI Central American and Caribbean Games			February 28 March 12	14	19	1390
1950	VI Central American and Caribbean Games	Guatemala City	Guatemala	February 28 March 12	14	19	1390
1954	VII Central American and Caribbean Games			March 5 March 20	12		1356
1954	VII Central American and Caribbean Games	Mexico City	Mexico	March 5 March 20	12		1356
1959	VIII Central American and Caribbean Games			January 6 January 15	12	17	1150
1959	VIII Central American and Caribbean Games	Caracas	Venezuela	January 6 January 15	12	17	1150
1962	IX Central American and Caribbean Games			August 15 August 28	15		1559
1962	IX Central American and Caribbean Games	Kingston	Jamaica	August 15 August 28	15		1559
1966	X Central American and Caribbean Games			July 11 July 25	18		1689
1966	X Central American and Caribbean Games	San Juan	Puerto Rico	July 11 July 25	18		1689
1970	XI Central American and Caribbean Games			February 28 March 13	21		2095
1970	XI Central American and Caribbean Games	Panama City	Panama	February 28 March 13	21		2095
1974	XII Central American and Caribbean Games			February 27 March 13	23	18	1928
1974	XII Central American and Caribbean Games	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	February 27 March 13	23	18	1928
1978	XIII Central American and Caribbean Games			July 7 July 28	21	18	2605
1978	XIII Central American and Caribbean Games	Medellín	Colombia	July 7 July 28	21	18	2605
1982	XIV Central American and Caribbean Games			August 7 August 18	19		2420
1982	XIV Central American and Caribbean Games	La Habana	Cuba	August 7 August 18	19		2420
1986	XV Central American and Caribbean Games			June 24 July 5	26	25	2963
1986	XV Central American and Caribbean Games	Santiago de los Caballeros	Dominican Republic	June 24 July 5	26	25	2963
1990	XVI Central American and Caribbean Games			November 20 December 3	29		4206
1990	XVI Central American and Caribbean Games	Mexico City	Mexico	November 20 December 3	29		4206
1993	XVII Central American and Caribbean Games			November 19 November 30	32		3570
1993	XVII Central American and Caribbean Games	Ponce	Puerto Rico	November 19 November 30	32		3570
1998	XVIII Central American and Caribbean Games			August 8 August 22	31		5200
1998	XVIII Central American and Caribbean Games	Maracaibo	Venezuela	August 8 August 22	31		5200
2002	XIX Central American and Caribbean Games			November 19 November 30	31	37	7000
2002	XIX Central American and Caribbean Games	San Salvador	El Salvador	November 19 November 30	31	37	7000
2006	XX Central American and Caribbean Games			July 15 July 30	32
2006	XX Central American and Caribbean Games	Cartagena de Indias	Colombia	July 15 July 30	32
2010	XXI Central American and Caribbean Games
2010	XXI Central American and Caribbean Games	Mayagüez	Puerto Rico
2014	XXII Central American and Caribbean Games
2014	XXII Central American and Caribbean Games	Veracruz	Mexico

[edit] Historical Medal Count

Total		3625	3610	3969	11204
Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Cuba	1490	737	554	2781
2	Mexico	886	903	766	2555
3	Venezuela	343	507	584	1434
4	Colombia	276	361	405	1042
5	Puerto Rico	236	400	519	1155
6	Panama	81	141	147	369
7	Jamaica	78	100	99	277
8	Dominican Republic	74	147	247	468
9	Guatemala	55	121	259	425
10	El Salvador	33	77	141	251
11	Costa Rica	33	32	54	119
12	Trinidad and Tobago	31	54	69	154
13	Netherlands Antilles	27	27	45	99
14	Bahamas	13	10	21	44
15	Suriname	12	4	6	22
16	United States Virgin Islands	9	14	16	39
17	Guyana	5	11	28	44
18	Barbados	5	10	27	42
19	Nicaragua	3	13	36	52
20	Haiti	3	4	14	21
21	Honduras	2	8	18	28
22	Bermuda	1	3	10	14
23	Belize	1	2	2	5
24	Cayman Islands	1	1	3	5
25	Aruba	1	0	1	2
26	Saint Lucia	1	0	0	1
27	British Virgin Islands	1	0	0	1
28	Antigua and Barbuda	0	3	4	7
29	Grenada	0	0	4	4
30	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0	0	2	2
31	Dominica	0	0	1	1