Athletes go for the gold at the Pan American Games
Athletes from Canada to Argentina braved Lima's chilly, damp weather for three weeks in August at the Americas' biggest sporting competition, which debuted surfing as in event in a country known as the Hawaii of South America. The U.S. finished atop the medal standings with 293, followed by Brazil with 171 and Mexico with 136.
The event’s $1 billion price tag created world-class infrastructure for the 9 million residents of the Peruvian capital, which sits in a desert next to the Pacific Ocean. The spending drew criticism from some who thought the government should have instead put that money into poor communities that lack drainage, roads and drinking water in one of the world's driest capitals.
Photos by Fernando Vergara, Silvia Izquierdo, Fernando Llano, Rebecca Blackwell, Martin Mejia, Juan Karita, Moises Castillo and Rodrigo Abd