From rugby to baseball, roller-skating to bowling, the 2015 Pan American Games give athletes the opportunity to compete against the best in the Americas — even in disciplines that you might not expect.
Here are some of the less mainstream events that will be happening when the games roll into town:
BMX
Bicycle Motocross (BMX) is a sport that is popular in competitions like the Summer X Games, but it is not traditionally regarded as an elite level sport. It’s performed on a dirt track with many obstacles in the rider’s path: jumps, ditches, twists, and turns. Eight riders race side-by-side, each seeking to maintain the fastest time throughout multiple heats. Often considered a contact sport, BMX competitions frequently see riders colliding, pushing, shoving, or even getting run over by other competitors — making this exciting event a crowd favourite.
Wakeboarding & Waterskiing
Better known to most of us as summer cottage activities, wakeboarding & waterskiing are, for some, serious competitive sports that have been included in the Pan Am Games since 1995. Both are individual sports that involve being pulled by a boat at high speeds across the water. Wakeboarding is an all-male sport that is also determined by a panel of judges, with the scores based solely on a routine comprised of tricks.
Bowling
If you’re the type that clocks multiple hours with Wii-Bowling or that doesn’t need the help of gutter-stoppers at your local alley, you may be interested to know that bowling has been a Pan Am Sport since 1991. Bowling is an ancient game dating back to the pharaohs of Egypt. In its current iteration the aim is to knock down all ten pins — there is no five-pin variant at the Pan Am Games. In the 2011 Pan Am Games Canada’s female bowlers took home silver and bronze medals behind the USA, making this year’s competition even more exciting as we have a home-lane advantage.
