1993 Central American and Caribbean Games
Encyclopedia
The 17th Central American and Caribbean Games
were held in Ponce
, a city in southern Puerto Rico
. The Games were held from November 19 to November 30, 1993 and included 3,570 athletes from 32 nations.
. The ODECABE staff developed a close working relationship with the Games organizers in Puerto Rico to carry out the Games in the context of the commemorative celebrations of the discovery of Puerto Rico 500 years earlier, in 1493.
from the Games, the Games would had hosted a perfect attendance by the countries comprising the Central American and Caribbean region.
The finals amounted to 385, a record, with the addition of the sports of handball, skating, and kárate-do. Canoeing took place in Havana, Cuba, bringing the total number of participating countries to 32. Canoeing was the only event conducted outside of Puerto Rico.
Esteban Rodríguez Maduro until it was dissolved in 1992. A new Committee was formed in August 1992, presided by Dr. Héctor López Pumarejo. The new Committee was formed just 15 months before the inaugural day of the Games.
. Mayor Churumba, as he was popularly known, stayed his course and Ponce was certified as the main host city. The athletic village, however, was located in Salinas
, some 40 minutos from Ponce, and the village of the Games' judges was based in the town of Villaba, at some 20 minutos from the host city.
There was also a debate over moving the inaugural date from November 1993 to the Summer of 1994, when the Government of Puerto Rico cut off funding for the Games in the last phase of the planning and actually organized a popular referendum
over the issue just days prior to the opening ceremony of the Games. The controversies drained the organizers and athletes alike, but the Games took place nevetheless.
. It accommodated the 31 countries and 20,000 spectators. The torch was lit by famed Ponce basketball player Juan “Pachín” Vicéns, having received the torch from the Puerto Rican silver medalists that participated in the 1930 Games in Havana. These were Eugenio Guerra and Manuel Luciano, as well as from Rebekah Colberg
, the first Puerto Rican woman to win gold in the 1938 Games in Panama.
music, including vejigante
s shows, plus a whole array of other shows including Chayanne
and the Gran Combo. The top brass of Puerto Rican artists also provided nightly appearances for the participants and spectators alike.
won the most medals at 364. It was Cuba's largest win ever. It included 227 gold medals, a record-breaking number in the Games. Mexico followed next with 240 medals, including 66 gold medals. Venezuela and Puerto Rico followed closedly by. Venezule beat Puerto Rico by a 2-medal count, winning third place with 155 medals, including 23 gold medals. Puerto Rico won fourth place with 153 medals including 23 gold medals. It was Puerto Rico's highest medal win ever. Colombia followed in fifth place with 101 medals, and tied with Puerto Rico on the gold medal wins.
The XVII Games witnessed the world records in weight-lifting by the Cuban athletes William Vargas
and Pablo Lara
.
in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where is still stands today.
Central American and Caribbean Games
The Central American and Caribbean Games are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial , typically in the middle year between Summer Olympics...
were held in Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...
, a city in southern Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. The Games were held from November 19 to November 30, 1993 and included 3,570 athletes from 32 nations.
Organization and Planning
The city of Ponce inaugurated the Seventeenth CACG less than three years after the closing of the Sixteenth Games in Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. The ODECABE staff developed a close working relationship with the Games organizers in Puerto Rico to carry out the Games in the context of the commemorative celebrations of the discovery of Puerto Rico 500 years earlier, in 1493.
Historic Coincidence
Exactly five centuries before the Ponce '93 Games the island of Puerto Rico had been discovered by the Europeans and in 1993 the city of Ponce became the second city in Puerto Rico to host the oldest regional games in the world. The organizers had to carry out these games over fewer days than any other previous CACG since 1932, even though there were more countries competing in more sports for more medals and over more venues than at any other time in the history of the Games.Record Competitions
It was the first time that the Games were celebrated over only 10 days, and hosting 31 sports taking place over 21 of the 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico. The number of countries competing in these Games, 31, was a record for the Games in 1993 and has so far not been broken by any other celebration of the Games since. Had it not been for the absence of DominicaDominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
from the Games, the Games would had hosted a perfect attendance by the countries comprising the Central American and Caribbean region.
The finals amounted to 385, a record, with the addition of the sports of handball, skating, and kárate-do. Canoeing took place in Havana, Cuba, bringing the total number of participating countries to 32. Canoeing was the only event conducted outside of Puerto Rico.
Leadership
The organizing committee was initially presided by Ponce attorneyLawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Esteban Rodríguez Maduro until it was dissolved in 1992. A new Committee was formed in August 1992, presided by Dr. Héctor López Pumarejo. The new Committee was formed just 15 months before the inaugural day of the Games.
Controversies
The Games were not free of controversies. A major one occurred when the Olympic Committee attempted to move several of the events to the San Juan area, provoking a heated debate between the sports community and the mayor of the hosting city of Ponce Rafael Cordero SantiagoRafael Cordero Santiago
Rafael Cordero Santiago – better known as Churumba – was the Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1989 to 2004. Many considered him as a synonym of Ponce, being baptized as the Greatest Lion in reference to the city's nickname of The Lion City of Ponce...
. Mayor Churumba, as he was popularly known, stayed his course and Ponce was certified as the main host city. The athletic village, however, was located in Salinas
Salinas, Puerto Rico
Salinas is a small municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico located in the southern coast of the island, south of Aibonito and Cayey; southeast of Coamo, east of Santa Isabel; and west of Guayama...
, some 40 minutos from Ponce, and the village of the Games' judges was based in the town of Villaba, at some 20 minutos from the host city.
There was also a debate over moving the inaugural date from November 1993 to the Summer of 1994, when the Government of Puerto Rico cut off funding for the Games in the last phase of the planning and actually organized a popular referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
over the issue just days prior to the opening ceremony of the Games. The controversies drained the organizers and athletes alike, but the Games took place nevetheless.
Venue
The Games centred around the Francisco “Paquito” Montaner StadiumFrancisco Montaner Stadium
The Estadio Francisco Montaner is a multi-use stadium in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is home to the Leones de Ponce team of the Puerto Rico Baseball League and FC Leones of the Puerto Rico Soccer League . The stadium has a capacity of 16,000 seats...
. It accommodated the 31 countries and 20,000 spectators. The torch was lit by famed Ponce basketball player Juan “Pachín” Vicéns, having received the torch from the Puerto Rican silver medalists that participated in the 1930 Games in Havana. These were Eugenio Guerra and Manuel Luciano, as well as from Rebekah Colberg
Rebekah Colberg
Dr. Rebekah Colberg ,Dates of birth and death were provided and confirmed by the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee-August 24, 2010 is known as "The Mother of Women's Sports in Puerto Rico".-Early years:...
, the first Puerto Rican woman to win gold in the 1938 Games in Panama.
Entertainment
The opening ceremony occurred in the midst of the use of laser ray effects, plus local plenaPlena
Plena is a folkloric genre native to Puerto Rico. Its creation was influenced by African and Spanish music.-History:The music is generally folkloric. The music's beat and rhythm are usually played using hand drums called panderetas, but also known as panderos or pleneras. The music is accompanied...
music, including vejigante
Vejigante
A vejigante is a clown-like character in Puerto Rican festival celebrations . Traditional colors of the Vejigantes were black, red, white, and yellow. Today, vejigantes wear brightly colored, ornate masks of all colors and a costume with bat-like wings...
s shows, plus a whole array of other shows including Chayanne
Chayanne
Elmer Figueroa Arce , best known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 solo-albums and sold over 20 million albums worldwide.-Early life:...
and the Gran Combo. The top brass of Puerto Rican artists also provided nightly appearances for the participants and spectators alike.
Participation
There were 4,853 participants, comprising 2,510 male athletes, 1,060 women athletes, and 1,283 officials. The Cuban delegation was the most numerous with 786, including 565 athletes. Puerto Rico had the largest delegation in its history with 741 participants, including 544 athletes, made up of 366 males, 178 females, and 197 officials, delegates, physicians, and coaches. Puerto Rico participated in 31 of the 32 sports. It did not participate in the canoeing competition. Mexico was the next-largest delegation with 616 participants.Top win and records broken
CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
won the most medals at 364. It was Cuba's largest win ever. It included 227 gold medals, a record-breaking number in the Games. Mexico followed next with 240 medals, including 66 gold medals. Venezuela and Puerto Rico followed closedly by. Venezule beat Puerto Rico by a 2-medal count, winning third place with 155 medals, including 23 gold medals. Puerto Rico won fourth place with 153 medals including 23 gold medals. It was Puerto Rico's highest medal win ever. Colombia followed in fifth place with 101 medals, and tied with Puerto Rico on the gold medal wins.
The XVII Games witnessed the world records in weight-lifting by the Cuban athletes William Vargas
William Vargas
William Vargas Trujillo is a retired male weightlifter from Cuba. He competed for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and thrice won a gold medal at the Pan American Games: in 1991, 1995 and 1999.-References:*...
and Pablo Lara
Pablo Lara
Pablo Lara Rodríguez is a Cuban weightlifter.He won a gold medal in the middleweight class at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.- References :...
.
Sports
-
RacquetballRacquetballFor other sports often called "paddleball", see Paddleball .Racquetball is a racquet sport played with a hollow rubber ball in an indoor or outdoor court...
-
Roller skatingRoller skatingRoller skating is the traveling on smooth surfaces with roller skates. It is a form of recreation as well as a sport, and can also be a form of transportation. Skates generally come in two basic varieties: quad roller skates and inline skates or blades, though some have experimented with a...
Medal table
| Place | Nation | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 227 | 76 | 61 | 364 | |
| 2 | 66 | 106 | 68 | 240 | |
| 3 | 23 | 54 | 78 | 155 | |
| 4 | 22 | 53 | 78 | 153 | |
| 5 | 22 | 45 | 34 | 101 | |
| 6 | 6 | 18 | 25 | 49 | |
| 7 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 27 | |
| 8 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 48 | |
| 9 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 | |
| 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 13 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | |
| 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 17 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | |
| 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 20 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 11 | |
| 21 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 | |
| 22 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 24 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | |
| 25 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total | 385 | 386 | 456 | 1227 | |
Commemorative Plaque
A commemorative plaque for the games was given to Puerto Rico's CACG Committee by the head of the Cuban delegation to the Games. The plaque reads (in Spanish) "XVII Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos y del Caribe. Ponce '93. Cuba y Puerto Rico son de un pajaro las dos alas. Recuerdo de la Delegacion Cubana. A.G.C." (XVII Central American and Caribbean Games. Ponce '93. Cuba and Puerto Rico are the two wings of one same bird. A commemorative gift of the Cuban delegation. A.G.C.). The plaque was then added to the podium structure at the Pedro Albizu Campos ParkPedro Albizu Campos Park
The Parque Pedro Albizu Campos is a passive recreational park in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was dedicated on September 12, 1991, to the memory of Puerto Rican Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos by the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos was...
in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where is still stands today.