Toronto Wins Bid for 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games

The city of Toronto, Canada, has officially won the bid for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games.

Toronto was chosen as the host city for the 2015 Games by the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) last week, over competing cities Bogota, Columbia, and Lima, Peru.

For the Toronto 2015 Games, the sport venue plan encompasses state-of-the-art facilities and an athlete's village already under construction.

“We are thrilled,” said Toronto 2015 Bid Chair, the Hon. David Peterson. “We would like to thank PASO and in particular, PASO President Mario Vasquez Rana for having confidence in us and allowing us this great honour. We will work hard to stage the best Pan and Parapan Am Games ever.”

In the upcoming months, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Americas Paralympic Committee (APC) will now meet with the Organizing Committee to discuss details and final plans.

The Parapan American Games occur every four years, with the next Games to be the Guadalajara 2011 Parapan American Games from 19-27 November 2011. A total of 12 sports were confirmed on the 2011 Parapan American Games programme, including Athletics, Boccia, Football 5-a-Side, Football 7-a-Side, Goalball, Judo, Powerlifting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Volleyball (Sitting), Wheelchair Basketball and Wheelchair Tennis.

Guadalajara follows the Rio 2007 Parapan American Games, which had a total of 1,132 athletes from 25 countries competing. The first Parapan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, in 1999, while the second edition took place in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in 2003.

For more inforamiton on Toronto 2015, please visit the official website at http://www.toronto2015.org.