Dancers celebrate at Closing Ceremony at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 on Aug. 11, 2019 in Lima, Peru.
LIMA, Peru – The Pan American Games Lima 2019 drew to a close Sunday following 17 days of competition between approximately 6,700 athletes from 41 nations. U.S. athletes delivered stellar performances to collect 293 medals, including 120 golds, 88 silvers and 85 bronzes – leading the overall medal count for nations by 122 medals.
Team USA athletes became medalists in nearly all sports the U.S. competed in – including archery, badminton, basketball, Basque pelota, beach volleyball, bowling, boxing, canoe/kayak, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, judo, karate, modern pentathlon, racquetball, roller sports, rowing, rugby, sailing, shooting, softball, squash, surfing, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, track and field, triathlon, water ski/wakeboard, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
Swimmers Margo Geer and Nathan Adrian leave Lima with six medals to each of their names. Geer boasts five golds and one silver, and Adrian earned two golds and four silvers – both swimmers made their Pan American Games debut in Lima.
Two athletes possess five medals from Lima: rhythmic gymnasts Evita Griskenas and swimmer Michael Chadwick. Griskenas captured four golds and one bronze, and Chadwick left the pool with one gold, two silvers and two bronzes.
Artistic gymnast Riley McCusker showed out in Lima as well to collect four medals – two golds, one silver and one bronze.
Team USA leaves Lima, Peru, with more than just medals earned. U.S. athletes and teams earned 16 quota spots for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 across archery, equestrian, sailing, shooting and water polo.
Team USA earned one men’s and one women’s quota with its gold-medal finish in mixed team recurve. World champion Brady Ellison also broke a world record in the men’s individual, posting a score of 702 in qualification.
Samantha Achterberg and Amro Elgeziry qualified for Tokyo by name as modern pentathlon, seizing the only opportunity Team USA athletes had to do so in Lima.
Shooting earned the most quota spots for a total of seven – two in men’s trap shooting, one in men’s air pistol, one in men’s air rifle, one in women’s three-position rifle, one in women’s air rifle and one in women’s sport pistol.
The theme of the colorful Closing Ceremony was “Dance of Diversity,” zooming into the wide panorama of Peru. The up-close experience featured the detail of people’s faces, of age-old and contemporary art and of living traditions, artifacts of Peru’s ancient cultures showcased through dance and moments of daily life danced out of embroidered images.
After speeches given by Carlos Neuhaus, president of the Lima 2019 organizing committee, and Neven Ilic, president of Panam Sports, concluded, the audience said its farewell to the Games as Lima 2019 was officially declared close. The Panam Sports flag was symbolically handed over to the president of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, in honor of the upcoming Games.
The next edition of the Pan American Games will take place in Santiago, Chile, Oct. 22-Nov. 5, 2023.
Below are photos from the Closing Ceremony:
Dancers perform during the Closing Ceremony at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 on Aug. 11, 2019 in Lima, Peru.
Dancers representing pre-Hispanic culture perform during the Closing Ceremony at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 on Aug. 11, 2019 in Lima, Peru.
Brady Ellison holds the U.S. flag during the Closing Ceremony at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 on Aug. 1, 2019 in Lima, Peru.
Artists representing a group of hand-sewn characters perform during the Closing Ceremony at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 on Aug. 11, 2019 in Lima, Peru.
Dancers representing the cultural diversity of Peru perform during the Closing Ceremony at the Pan American Games Lima 2019 on Aug. 11, 2019 in Lima, Peru.