This week the XIX Pan American Games Santiago 2023 and the VII Parapan American Games began. It is a pride for Chile to host, for the first time, these Games, which are the largest sports festival that as a country we have had to organize in our history.
The legacy that Santiago 2023 will leave will be important and will benefit the entire society. As president, I always believed in the enormous virtues of practicing sports for health; for the formation of values of improvement, for camaraderie, and also as a constitutive element of citizenship. That is why in 2017, during my second Government, we decided to apply to be the host country of the Pan American and Parapan American Games, thinking about positioning our country as a venue for international events with all that this entails; encourage sports practice and leave infrastructure that can be used by Chilean families. That same year we were unanimously chosen as the headquarters for 2023.
This work began more than six years ago, it has gone through three governments, so it has been a state policy, and today it is up to President Gabriel Boric, along with his ministers, to lead it.
It is an important task. More than 9 thousand athletes will compete in 39 Pan American and 17 Parapan American sports, in 22 communes in the Metropolitan, Valparaíso, O’Higgins and Biobío regions. With this, our country will realize the dream of hosting a mega multi-sports event of this magnitude, with the highest international standards and with the 41 states of America, so it will also be a celebration of diversity and the encounter between cultures. Just as happened with the ’62 World Cup, we will make history and the eyes of the world will be on Chile during these days.
Without a doubt, as a country we want sport to continue growing in our land, for there to be access for everyone, filling us with joy and celebrations; and hopefully encouraging many others to join physical activity and that spirit of improvement. After years that have been difficult, sport offers us the possibility of getting closer and sharing; and in these Games we will be able to cheer on our 664 athletes with pride, seeing how they give themselves completely to their disciplines, for our flag and our sporting spirit.
Mass sport allows us, among many things, to appropriate and take advantage of public space. For this sporting event, more than a million people are expected to attend and close to 100,000 visitors to our country. This is a great opportunity to stimulate our economy, activating the tourism, hotel and gastronomic sector. It will also be a contribution to our country image.
In the current context of the climate change crisis, sustainability had to be present: Santiago 2023 will be the first sporting event of this magnitude to achieve carbon neutrality in Chile and 80% of the plastic waste generated will be recycled.
Sport is not only an expression of our vitality and passion, but a bridge that unites communities, generations and cultures. By running on the same track, playing on the same team or cheering for a common group, we remember that we belong to a community, that we have common values and that we share goals.
Several years ago we set the goal as a country to organize and develop these Games, and we are already fulfilling it, after the work of three governments. The legacy that Santiago 2023 will leave us should be a source of pride for Chileans. In every game played, in every goal achieved, we see the principles of democracy in action: collective effort, justice, respect and, above all, unity. Through sport, we celebrate our diversity and strengthen social cohesion, building a stronger, more united and resilient Chile for everyone.
#legacy #Santiago