Central American Games

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The Central American Games (Spanish: Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos) are a multi-sport regional championships event, held quadrennial (every 4 years), typically in the first year after Summer Olympics. The Games are open for member federations of the Central American Sports Organization (Spanish: Organización Deportiva Centroamericana) ORDECA in Central American countries.^[1] (in Spanish)

The Games have had an equivalent to the Olympic Flame, being ignited in Q'umarkaj, one of the ancient cultural Mayan centers located in El Quiché, Guatemala.^[2] However, some people and organizations have criticised the games for not including the Mesoamerican ballgame, the oldest ball sport in the continent, on the sports programme.

The competition is the second multi-sport event to have the name: the Central American and Caribbean Games began life in 1926 as the Central American Games and had this moniker until it expanded its remit in 1935.