The VII South American Games (Spanish: Juegos Sudamericanos; Portuguese: Jogos Sul-Americanos) were a multi-sport event held in 2002 in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, and Belém; all in Brazil. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR). In Belém, the games were officially opened by the governor of the state of Pará, Almir Gabriel. Torch lighter was bowler Dayse Silva. Originally awarded to Córdoba, Argentina, the Games were moved to Bogotá, Colombia, following an economic crisis in Argentina. Later, violence between the Colombian government and guerrillas caused Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Venezuela to threaten to leave the Games, which resulted in the relocation to Brazil. Colombia boycoted the games in a protest of this decision.

Participants

13 ODESUR members participated on the games. Netherlands Antilles returned to the games, while Colombia boycotted the games as a response of the country being stripped of its hosting rights.

Medal count

The medal count for these Games is tabulated below. This table is sorted by the number of gold medals earned by each country. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next, and then the number of bronze medals.

Sports

Venues

Belem

Curitiba

Rio de Janeiro

São Paulo