The history of the Pan American Games began in 1932. The ideacame from the South American delegations at the International Olympic Committee. The first Pan American Games were in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1942. But World War II postponed the Games until 1951.The Pan American Games are celebrated every four years, alwaysone year before the Olympic Games. In terms of amount of sportsand athletes, the Pan American Games are the second largestsporting event in the world in importance, behind the Olympic Games.The mascots of the Pan American Games are present from thePan de San Juan in 1979.