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The Pan-American Games is a cross-continental sporting event that is held once in every four consecutive years. Also known as the Pan Am Games, the competition brings together top athletes from 41 nations in the Americas. There have been a total of 17 editions of the competition since its inception. The inaugural edition was held in 1951 and hosted by Argentina, while the most recent edition was held in 2015 hosted by Canada. The United States and Cuba are the two top-performing countries in the Pan Am Games. The British Virgin Islands and Aruba are the only two participating nations that are yet to receive a single medal in the Pan-American Games.

Top Performing Countries At The Pan American Games

The United States

The United States is the best-performing country in the competition鈥檚 history. The country has garnered a total of 4,420 medals in the history of the games, more than twice the number of medals with the second-best performing country. No other country has amassed more gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Pan-American Games than the United States. The country has featured in all editions of the Pan-American Games since the inaugural 1951 edition. The body tasked with the nation鈥檚 participation at the games is the United States Olympic Committee. The United States has hosted the competition on two occasions, the first of which was in the 1959 Pan-American Games which were held in Chicago. During the 1959 edition, the United States emerged as the top performing nation after American athletes were awarded a total of 236 medals. The 1987 edition was also hosted by the United States and was held in the city of Indianapolis. Swimming is the sport in which the nation is most successful, with American swimmers receiving a total of 706 medals in the competition鈥檚 history.

Cuba

Cuba has featured in all editions of the Pan-American Games, and its athletes have garnered a total of 2,026 medals, making Cuba the second-best-performing country at the Pan-American Games. Cuba has hosted the competition only once, during the 1991 Pan-American Games which were held in the nation鈥檚 capital, Havana. Cuba recorded its best performance during this edition of the games after its athletes received a total of 265 medals; 140 gold, 62 silver, and 63 bronze. The event was also the only edition where Cuba appeared at the top of the medal table. The country鈥檚 performance in the games has been on a decline ever since and recorded its worst performance in 40 years during the most recent edition, the 2015 Pan-American Games

The Winter Games

The 1990 Winter Pan-American Games remains the only edition of the games that was purely dedicated to winter sports. The games were held in the Argentinian city of Las Lenas and attracted 97 athletes representing eight countries. Only one winter sport was featured during the competition; alpine skiing which was made up of three disciplines and six events. The host country, Argentina fielded the highest number of athletes, with 26 athletes. Canada and the United States swept all the medals in the competition, with the United States emerging as the best performing nation after amassing 11 medals in total, four of which were gold medals.