More than two weeks have passed since the kick-off of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, an edition that has not only been crowned as Chile's best participation (with 79 medals), but has also brought with it praise and positive balances from different parts of the world.
And it was not only the good organizational development that attracted attention, as foreign media, such as the Argentine newspaper Página 12, gave space to the living history of the country. This is the case of the article entitled "Estadio Nacional, espacio de memoria que fue protagonista en Santiago 2023", an article that recalls what happened after the 1973 coup d'état "when the emblematic venue of the Chilean capital was used as a detention and torture center", explains the newspaper.
The article of Página 12, written by journalist Florencia Mó, was selected by Santiago 2023 among the most outstanding foreign records of the Pan American Games.
The EFE news agency, for its part, highlighted one of the particularities of the medals won by the winners: "The medals of Santiago 2023 will be unique and with a copper heart", in a chronicle in which it states that "each medal that hangs around the neck of an athlete in the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 will be unique, not only because of what it means for the athlete, but also because its elaboration was a handcrafted process that means that no two medals will be the same".
For this purpose, it interviewed Verónica López, head of the Brand, Identity and Image area of the Games, who explained that "each medal is different from the other, because they are made one by one with a handcrafted patina or oxidation process. No two medals are the same".
The Hispanic agency added poetically: "Coming from the bowels of the Chilean territory, from the Atacama Desert, all the medals have a copper heart and are crowned by a Mapuche ornament, the trapelacucha, which is a pin that symbolizes the union between man and woman".
Sustainable games and massive attendance
Sustainability was another of the outstanding elements of this edition of the games. The news service Milenio, from Mexico, headlined "Carbon footprint, the other competition in the 2023 Pan American Games", highlighting the different actions that have been implemented to reduce the pollution that usually accompanies this type of sporting event. The article mentions among the measures the "recycling of at least 80 percent of the plastic waste generated during the competitions", as well as a projection of the "carbon footprint generated during the two weeks of competitions, which is expected to be only 250 thousand tons of CO2".
For its part, Agence France-Presse praised the local effervescence, highlighting the rebound of Pan American interest among the public, stating that "Chile went from a lack of sports fever for Santiago 2023 to selling half a million tickets in just one week, with a public that cheers on the dozens of Pan American disciplines".
AFP's information was widely replicated, such as La Nación of Argentina, which mentions the event's executive director, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, celebrating that "the people's response has been impressive. We passed the one million tickets issued, more than one million". In the end it would be 1,400,000,000.
Source: Santiago 2023 Corporation. Press release available at the following link
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