2006 South American Games

VIII South American Games
	The official logo of the Buenos Aires South American Games.
Host city	Buenos Aires
Country	Argentina
Nations	15
Athletes	2,770
Events	28 sports
Opening	November 9, 2006
Closing	November 19, 2006
Opened by	Néstor Kirchner
Torch lighter	Carlos Espínola
Main venue	Estadio del Parque Roca
	← 2002 Brazil 2010 Medellín →

The VIII South American Games (Spanish: Juegos Sudamericanos; Portuguese: Jogos Sul-Americanos) were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing, cycling, futsal, handball, roller sports, rowing, triathlon).^[1] An appraisal of the games and detailed medal lists were published elsewhere,^[2] emphasizing the results of the Argentinian teams.

The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR), who awarded the Games to the city with 10 votes over the bids by previous hosts Cuenca, Ecuador (3 votes) and Lima, Peru (1 vote).

The Games were originally awarded to the first edition host La Paz, Bolivia, but this decision was retracted following domestic instability in Bolivia during 2005. This country did not participate in the subsequent selection process after ODESUR denied its request to reconsider the decision.

Torch lighter at the Estadio del Parque Roca was multiple Olympic medalist, windsurfer Carlos Espínola.

Participants

15 ODESUR members participated on the games, Colombia returned from the games because did not participated on the Previous games, Argentina had the most athletes with (544) along with Brazil (424) and Chile (360), the small atheletics the nation was Guyana only sending 4 athletes to the games

Argentina (544) (Hosts)
Aruba (41)
Bolivia (122)
Brazil (424)
Chile (360)
Colombia (252)
Ecuador (170)
Guyana (4)
Netherlands Antilles (22)
Panama (15)
Paraguay (138)
Peru (144)
Suriname (15)
Uruguay (265)
Venezuela (328)

Venues

Buenos Aires

Cyclist Juan Curuchet with the South American Torch in Mar del Plata.

Bandoneonito, mascot of the 2006 South American Games.

CeNARD - Athletics, Weightlifting, Judo, Wrestling, Taekwondo, Field Hockey and Swimming.
Club Atlético River Plate - Table Tennis.
Federación Argentina de Boxeo - Boxing.
Estadio Mary Terán de Weiss - Tennis.
Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires - Fencing.
Tiro Federal - Shooting.
Parque Polideportivo Roca - Archery
Buenos Aires Yacht Club - Sailing.
Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield - Karate, Bocce.
Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires - Gymnastics.
San Lorenzo de Almagro - Artistic roller skating.
Lake of the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Gálvez - Waterskiing.

Mar del Plata

Polideportivo Islas Malvinas - Handball and Futsal.
Laguna de los Padres - Canoeing and Rowing.
Patinódromo Municipal - Inline speed skating.

Other areas

Capilla del señor - Equestrian.
Avellaneda - Bowling.
Zarate - Open water swimming.

Medal Count

The medal count for these Games is tabulated below. This table is sorted by the number of gold medals earned by each country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals.

* Host nation (Argentina)


Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Argentina (ARG)*	107	96	93	296
2	Venezuela (VEN)	98	85	101	284
3	Colombia (COL)	97	72	74	243
4	Brazil (BRA)	96	105	101	302
5	Chile (CHL)	37	42	58	137
6	Ecuador (ECU)	14	27	38	79
7	Peru (PER)	8	13	22	43
8	Uruguay (URY)	4	9	13	26
9	Paraguay (PRY)	2	4	5	11
10	Guyana (GUY)	1	1	0	2
11	Bolivia (BOL)	0	2	5	7
12	Panama (PAN)	0	2	1	3
13	Aruba (ABW)	0	1	1	2
14	Netherlands Antilles (ANT)	0	0	2	2
15	Suriname (SUR)	0	0	1	1
Totals (15 entries)		464	459	515	1,438