History of the Bolivarian Games

The Bolivarian Sports Games were created to honor the Venezuelan hero Simón Bolívar, liberator of current Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, and its first edition was held in 1938, during the fourth centenary of the founding of Bogotá. The Bolivarian Games are held every four years and depend on the Bolivarian Sports Organization which, in turn, is part of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), a subsidiary of the International Olympic Committee. For that reason, the Bolivarian Games are considered as the beginning of the Olympic Cycle that, after the ODESUR Games and the Pan-American Games, ends in the Olympic Games. It was precisely at the 1936 Berlin Olympics,
 
Of the regional games in the world, the Bolivarians are the only ones created under a deeply philosophical and historical idea and form the most balanced group in sport of all those that make up other similar organizations.

Alberto Nariño Cheyne
National Director of Physical Education of Colombia
 
The idea of ​​holding regional games, with characteristics similar to the Olympic competitions, arose in 1936, promoted by the then national director of Physical Education of Colombia, Alberto Nariño Cheyne. Nariño also managed the recognition of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for Bolivarians, whose first edition was won by Peru, with 65 medals. After many efforts and sacrifices, it was finally possible, in 1938, to organize the first Bolivarian Games in the Colombian city of Bogotá with the participation of athletes from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. Throughout history, eighteen editions of the Bolivarian Games have been counted, with Venezuela and Colombia being the countries that organized them the most, 4 times. Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, on 3 occasions; Panama on one occasion. On February 7, 2011, the General Assembly of the Bolivarian Sports Organization instituted the Bolivarian Beach Games whose first edition was held in the city of Lima, Peru, in 2012. Six National Olympic Committees, members of the ODEBO, plus four invited countries (Paraguay, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Guatemala).