Lima, Peru (July 31, 2019)-Accompanied by several members of the Panam Sports Executive Committee, President of Panam Sports Neven Ilic recently got to appreciate what it is like to truly live the Pan American Village experience.
The Panam Sports Executive Committee lived an experience never before seen in the Olympic Movement. They spent the night in the Athletes’ Village in a unique demonstration of solidarity with the thousands of athletes who are in Lima, Peru to compete.
From meals in the Dining Hall, to testing the equipment in the gymnasium and sleeping in the beds, the executives experienced living the athlete’s life.
“We are very happy to have lived this experience. My entire Executive Committee was able to live the experience of staying in this beautiful Pan American Village. Many of them have been Chefs de Mission, others were sleeping in the Village the same way more than 6,700 athletes will during the Games for the first time in their life,” said Panam Sports President, Neven Ilic.
“I believe this was an excellent initiative of our President Neven Ilic. The food quality is excellent, we chatted with the Chefs of Mission and the athletes. The Village is the heart of the Games. Everything is good but the climate is pretty cold. But it was an excellent experience, we are leaving here very happy and we look forward to the start of the Pan American Games that we hope will be a success,” added Panam Sports Vice President, Mario Moccia.
“The night was excellent. I had already lived this experience as a Chef de Mission before. It all went very well, the bed and the rooms are very spacious, everything is very clean, and it didn’t feel that cold to me. As with all Games, there are some details that are easily solvable. I’m sure it will be a great experience for the athletes,” said Executive Committee Member Kalam Juman-Yassin of Guyana.
Meanwhile Chef de Mission for Dominica, Brendan Williams, said the athletes have to make some adjustments to the climate.
“The accommodation here is well taken care of. I mean we are in their winter season so it’s a little bit chilly. But our athletes are adequately prepared for that in terms of the gear that was provided or sourced by the Dominica Olympic Committee to ensure that our athletes are warm. We purchased heaters because all the rooms at the village do not have heaters. So we purchased small heaters so that at least our athletes can be comfortable at nights when they sleep,” he said.
Williams added, “So far the games have been well organized. I mean, like any other thing, there are hiccups here and there. But every morning at the Chef de Mission meeting we try to solve them so that there is a smooth flow of all activities. So far I would give the games an ‘A’ for all the effort they have put in to ensure that they have a solid competition and the legacy of the games goes well beyond 2019.”
