Vincentians await Peruvian promises

St Vincent and the Grenadines is now awaiting the fulfilment of promises made by Peru, which last week won the bid to host the 2019 Pan American Games.{{more}}

Peru’s capital Lima was overwhelmingly voted to host the Games at the Pan American Sports Organisation’s General Assembly in Toronto, Canada, last Friday.

Lima secured 31 votes in the first round of voting against nine each for Santiago, Chile and La Punta, Argentina. Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela was next with eight votes.

When Peru’s National Olympic Committee (CONP) President Jose Quiñones Gonzales visited St Vincent and the Grenadines last July to lay out his country’s plans, he offered a $100,000 scholarship to this country’s athletes.

The rest is left to the members of the National Olympic Committee, as it is up to them to hold Gonzales and his country to their offer.

At the time of his offer, Gonzales proffered that the coastal city of Lima wedges its bid on the pillars of: “Expansion, Experience and Energy”.

Gonzales also said that they needed the Games more than the other cities which were in the bidding process, as they have never hosted them in the history of the Pan Am Games.

Peru plans to expend $760,000,000 on the Games, with the largest chunk allocated to the venues, which are proposed to be completed by 2016, to give the country enough time to test their capabilities.(RT)