Central American and Caribbean Games explained

Central American and Caribbean Games (CACGs) Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe
Formation:	October 30 – November 2, 1926
Recurrence:	normally 4 years
Last:	June 23– July 8, 2023
Purpose:	Sports for Central American and Caribbean people
Leader Title:	Organization
Leader Name:	Centro Caribe Sports (formerly CACSO)

The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for 32 countries and five territories in Central America, the Caribbean (Caribbean Countries), Mexico, and the South American Caribbean countries of Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.

The games are overseen by Centro Caribe Sports (formerly CACSO).^[1] They are designed to provide a step between sub-CACG-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 last Games were held in San Salvador between 23 June to 8 July 2023. The next Games will be held in Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic as main host in 2026.

History

The CACGs are the oldest continuing regional games in the world,^[2] 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.

The 1942 edition was suspended after the impact of the World War II.

A "Central American Games" does exist today, Juegos Centroamericanos, involving just Central American countries.

Editions

The first two editions of the Games were known as the "Central American Games" at the time, but the edition lineage continued after the inclusion of the Caribbean nations in 1935.^[3]

Year	Edition	Host city	Host nation (as recognized by the IOC)	Dates	Nations	Events	Sports	Competitors	Top placed team
1926	1	Mexico City	Mexico	October 30 – November 2	3	39	8	269	Mexico
1930	2	Havana	Cuba	March 15 – April 15	9	44	10	596	Cuba
1935	3	San Salvador	El Salvador	March 16 – April 5	9	79	14	741	Mexico
1938	4	Panama City	Panama	February 5 – February 24	10	96	17	1216	Mexico
1946	5	Barranquilla	Colombia	March 5 – March 25	13	107	18	1540	Mexico
1950	6	Guatemala City	Guatemala	February 28 – March 12	14	115	19	1390	Mexico
1954	7	Mexico City	Mexico	March 5 – March 20	12	122	19	1356	Mexico
1959	8	Caracas		January 6 – January 15	12	118	17	1150	Mexico
1962	9	Kingston	Jamaica	August 15 – August 28	15	112	17	1559	Mexico
1966	10	San Juan	Puerto Rico	July 11 – July 25	18	137	17	1689	Mexico
1970	11	Panama City	Panama	February 28 – March 13	21	182	16	2095	Cuba
1974	12	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	February 27 – March 13	23	171	18	1928	Cuba
1978	13	Medellín	Colombia	July 7 – July 28	19	188	21	2605	Cuba
1982	14	Havana	Cuba	August 7 – August 18	22	246	24	2799	Cuba
1986	15	Santiago de los Caballeros	Dominican Republic	June 24 – July 5	26	288	25	2963	Cuba
1990	16	Mexico City	Mexico	November 20 – December 3	29	359	30	4206	Cuba
1993	17	Ponce	Puerto Rico	November 19 – November 30	31	385	33	3,570	Cuba
1998	18	Maracaibo		August 8 – August 22	31	376	30	5200	Cuba
2002	19	San Salvador	El Salvador	November 19 – November 30	31	435	38	4,301	Mexico
2006	20	Cartagena	Colombia	July 15 – July 30	32	449	37	4,865	Cuba
2010	21	Mayagüez	Puerto Rico	July 17 – August 1	31	492	42	5204	Mexico
2014	22	Veracruz	Mexico	November 14 – November 30	31	427	36	5707	Cuba
2018	23	Barranquilla	Colombia	July 19 – August 3	37	470	36	5854	Mexico
2023	24	San Salvador	El Salvador	June 23 – July 8	37	434	38	5000+	Mexico
2026	25	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	July 24 – August 8

Sports

Sport	1926	1930	1935	1938	1946	1950	1954	1959	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1993	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018
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Nations

Nation	1926	1930	1935	1938	1946	1950	1954	1959	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1993	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018
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Antigua and Barbuda															X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
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Colombia				X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
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Cuba	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X		X	X
Dominica																		X	X	X	X	X	X
Dominican Republic					X		X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
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Guyana								X	X	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
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Jamaica		X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Saint Lucia																	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Mexico	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
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Panama		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
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Suriname											X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
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Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of				X	X		X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

Historical medal count

Updated after the 2023 Games:^{[4] [5]}

Central American and Caribbean Beach Games

Year	Edition	Host city	Host nation (as recognized by the IOC)	Dates	Nations	Events	Sports	Competitors	Top placed team
2022	1^[6]	Santa Marta	Colombia	November 19 – November 26	26	38	10	544
2025	2^[7]	Puntarenas	Costa Rica	TBD	32	47	19	1500

See also

• Centro Caribe Sports – organizers of the Central American and Caribbean Games
• Pan American Games
  • Bolivarian Games
  • Central American and Caribbean Games on Spanish Wikipedia
    • Athletics at the Central American and Caribbean Games
  • Central American Games
  • South American Games
• Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation
• Latin American Table Tennis Union

References

Citations

• Book: Los Juegos Regionales Mas Antiguos - The oldes regionals game. Enrique Montesinos. 2013.

Notes and References

1. ODECABE website www.odecabe.org; retrieved 2010-03-03
2. http://www.cacso.org/history.php History of CACSO
3. Web site: Nuevas marcas en Mayagüez 2010, y no han empezado los juegos - Primerahora.com . 2010-07-17 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20100720031951/http://www.primerahora.com/nuevasmarcasenmayaguez2010ynohanempezadolosjuegos-401194.html . 2010-07-20 .
4. https://archive.today/20141130083155/http://www.odecabe.org/games/medals.aspx Medals – Total of Medals (1926-2010)
5. http://info.veracruz2014.mx/info/eng/zz/engzz_medal_count.htm Veracruz 2014 – Medal Count
6. Web site: Central American and Caribbean Beach Games . 2022-10-17.
7. Web site: Costa Rica será sede de los Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe de Playa 2025 . 2024-02-08.