Winnipeg, in the province of Manitoba, will host the Pan American Games for the second time. Over 5,000 athletes will come to Canada to compete in 35 sports. Women will compete in soccer, weightlifting, modern pentathlon and water polo for the first time. As with the 1967 Pan American Games, volunteers will be a vital part of the event. More than 17,000 people will donate their time to welcome the athletes of the Americas.

The Pan American Games logo is intended as a symbol of celebration of life, sport, competition, friendship, culture, and the strength of the human spirit. Its design captures both universal and uniquely Manitoba symbols. At a glance, the logo resembles a flame within a cauldron, the symbol of Games and sport excellence. The flame can also be seen as the welcoming sun, and as the head of a person whose outstretched arms invite the people of the Americas to Winnipeg. These arms also can be interpreted as the lanes of a track.

The converging lines are also emblematic of two local symbols: the joining of Winnipeg’s two rivers, the Red and Assiniboine, and Manitoba’s flowing fields of grain.

The games mascots were Pato Panamericano, a wood duck and Lorita Panamericana, a parrot. Pato Panamericano is pictured below. Sightings of Lorita are extremely rare.