Among some other notable moments, Mexico ruled the diving competition by winning five of eight gold medals, women’s sevens rugby created plenty of buzz in its Pan Am debut and Cuba’s Mijian Lopez won gold in men’s Greco Roman wrestling for an unprecedented fourth straight Games.
Members of the Trinidad and Tobago men’s 4×400 meter relay team walk out to greet fans waiting after midnight for the team to be presented their gold medals at the Pan Am Games Sunday, July 26, 2015, in Toronto.
The closing ceremony got a major publicity boost when superstar rapper Kanye West was confirmed as the headliner.
(Hector Retamal, Pool photo via AP).
“We like ambitious”, said Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut.
But by the time the Pan American Games wrapped up Sunday, Toronto had been won over by the excitement of the global competition with some calling for the city to make a pitch for the Olympics.
Aubut said the COC doubled its funding for athletes and sports compared to previous Pan Ams. “I am officially declaring that I will use the full power of my office to lead and advocate for Toronto’s candidacy to hold the 2024 Olympic Games”, Aubut said during the Pan Am Games closing press conference. “This is it”.
If the speculation is true, Toronto will join the race against Rome, Paris, Boston, Budapest and Hamburg, Germany.
Canada’s financial hub has failed in two recent bids for the Summer Games, losing to Atlanta for 1996 and Beijing for 2008.
For that to happen, Canada’s divers, swimmers, rowers, wrestlers and paddlers need to come through, augmented by some track and field, cycling and trampoline medals.
Canadian athletes won more often at the Pan American Games than at any time in history, a record medal haul that reflected the largest team the country had ever sent to the event while also raising a question: Was Canada the only country trying its hardest?
After the victory, Nurse credited her athletic family for her big-game poise. The U.S. punched its ticket early with a semifinal win over Canada since gold-medal match opponent, Argentina, had already qualified for the Games through its finish at the FIH Hockey World League Semifinal.
John Tory said this week officials need to examine the benefits and costs involved in a bid and in hosting the Olympics before deciding whether to proceed.
1964: After Montreal’s lack of success, Calgary took over the Great White North’s ambitions to host the Winter Olympics.
“They’re always looking to open up new markets for the games”, says Janice Forsyth, former director of Western University’s global Centre for Olympic Studies. “It’s time that we do it”. The United States Olympic Committee was to meet Monday to discuss the Boston bid with Los Angeles a possible alternative.
But getting Toronto mayor John Tory and a cautious city council excited about bringing another multi-billion dollar sporting event to the region will be a tough sell. About 50 percent of residents were born outside Canada, and city hall figures say 45 percent speak a first language other than English or French.
The deadline for cities to register their interest with the worldwide Olympic Committee is September 15, with the winning city to be chosen in 2017.
Industry watchers say sometimes the worldwide Olympic Committee’s final decision on a host city is more likely to come down to politics, business or geography.
Rio de Janeiro, the host of next year’s Olympics, is spending about $12 billion to organize the games.
According to an Associated Press story published in May, Brazil has spent more than $1 billion since 2009, strengthening everything from infrastructure to high performance training ahead of the 2016 Olympics.
Lima, Peru will host the next Pan Am Games four years from now.
Aubut is to travel to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the IOC this week will announce the venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
By then, Toronto will have the staging of the Pan Am and ParaPan Am Games under its belt, but that’s just one of several factors that can add up to a good host city.