Nations participating 8 Events 6 | Athletes participating 97 Opening ceremony September 16 | |
 | ||
The 1990 Winter Pan American Games were held in Las Leñas, Argentina, from September 16 to September 22, 1990. They were the only Winter Pan American Games. 97 athletes from 8 countries participated in 1 sport (alpine skiing).
Contents
Sport
Venue
All sporting events took place at the Las Leñas Ski resort in Mendoza Province.
Game highlights
In 1988, members of PASO voted to hold the first Pan American Winter Games at Las Leñas, Argentina in September 1989. It was further agreed that Winter Games would be held every four years. Lack of snow however, forced the postponement of the games until September 16–22, 1990 when only eight countries sent 97 athletes to Las Leñas. Of that total, 76 were from just three countries: Argentina, Canada, and the United States.
On September 16th Néstor Lowel, president of Las Leñas received the Olympic Flag from Antonio Rodríguez, then president of the Argentinian Olympic Committee. Aristeo Benavídez, alpine skier that represented Argentina at the 1952 Winter Olympics, lit the Olympic cauldron after Governor José Octavio Bordón declared the games officially opened. The skier Carolina Eiras, who had represented Argentina at the 1988 Winter Olympics and would be the flag bearer in 1992, made the Olympic Oath.
Weather was unseasonably warm and again there was little snow, so only three Alpine Skiing events – the Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super G were staged. The United States and Canada won all 18 medals.