Sunday, November 5th, 2023.- They left, and we are already experiencing the mourning. The Pan American Games Santiago 2023 have come to an end, although the Parapan American Games are just around the corner, where it is expected that the audience will once again shine.

The big winners of this multisport event were, precisely, the fans because they achieved what no one expected: tripling the number of spectators who attended the stands in Lima 2019.

According to data provided by the organizers of the previous games in the Peruvian capital, 517,000 people attended to enjoy the sports, and Santiago 2023 shattered that record because three times as many tickets were sold compared to the preceding event.

A noteworthy moment that made headlines worldwide occurred this Saturday, one day before the conclusion of the Pan American Games, when 40,000 people came to watch athletics at the Estadio Nacional, 15,000 attended volleyball at Arena Parque O’Higgins, and 20,000 were present at the football final at the Estadio Sausalito in Viña del Mar.

Harold Mayne-Nicholls, director of Santiago 2023, commented on this milestone, saying, "When I took on this role, I conducted a personal analysis and looked at the numbers. I set a goal to reach one million tickets issued, and we reached one million four. I never would have imagined that we would exceed the number of entries so significantly."

He then encouraged the public to make their presence felt at the Parapan American Games: "We have 10 days for people to join, get involved, and participate in the celebration. Obviously, we will start even stronger tomorrow. We still have around 80,000 tickets to issue, so we need to call on people. Seize this opportunity because everyone we told to buy tickets later ends up saying they are sold out. It wasn't that we didn't want to; it's just that there were no more tickets available. The same will happen here, I'm sure."

The Pan American Games bid farewell, the Parapan American Games say hello, and Santiago 2023 will always remain in the hearts of Chilean sports fans.

Written by Carlos Silva Rojas; translated by Andrés Castro / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Adrián Aylwin / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport