2011 Pan American Games - Concerns and Controversies - Venue Delays

Venue Delays

Another concern with the Games was that venue construction had fallen behind. In 2009, two years before the start of the games, the athletes' village was still not under construction and the aquatics and athletics stadiums fell way behind schedule. Some venues and the athletes village were finished only a few weeks before the start of the games, including the Telcel Athletics Stadium and the beach volleyball stadium in Puerto Vallarta. This meant that not all disciplines could have a test event before the games began. Organizers guaranteed that all the sports venues being built for the games would be ready before September 2011. Many of the venues were scaled down, including the Telmex athletics stadium, which had the number of seats halved. During the election of the host city of the 2015 Pan American Games, PASO president Mario Vázquez Rana said that if Guadalajara did not address the delays, Toronto, the host of the next games, would step in and replace Guadalajara as host. In August 2011, the athletics stadium was further delayed by constant rain which prevented the installation of the track. This development put the test event scheduled for September at risk of being cancelled. Several days before the opening ceremony, the organizing committee announced that they were optimistic that the venues would be ready by the start of the games.