The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, Puerto Vallarta, Lagos de Moreno and Tapalpa. It was the largest multi-sport event of the year, with approximately 6,000 athletes from 42 nations participating in 36 sports. Both the Pan American and Parapan American Games were organized by the Guadalajara 2011 Organizing Committee (COPAG). The 2011 Pan American Games were the third Pan American Games hosted by Mexico (the first country to do so) and the first held in the state of Jalisco. Previously, Mexico hosted the 1955 Pan American Games and the 1975 Pan American Games, both in Mexico City. The 2011 Parapan American Games were held 20 days after the Pan American Games have ended.
Following PASO tradition, Jalisco governor Emilio González Márquez and then Guadalajara mayor Alfonso Petersen Farah received the Pan American Sports Organization flag during the closing ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event was officially opened by the President of Mexico Felipe Calderón.
The United States won the most total medals, their fifteenth straight time doing so at the Pan American Games. Brett Fraser, a swimmer from the Cayman Islands, won the first Pan American Games gold medal for his country, while Saint Kitts and Nevis won its first ever Pan American Games medal of any kind.
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