The VIII South American Games (Spanish: Juegos Sudamericanos; Portuguese: Jogos Sul-Americanos) were a multi-sport event held from 9 to 19 November 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with some events taking place in Mar del Plata (canoeing, cycling, futsal, handball, roller sports, rowing, triathlon). An appraisal of the games and detailed medal lists were published elsewhere, emphasizing the results of the Argentinian teams. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization (ODESUR), who awarded the Games to the city with 10 votes over the bids by previous hosts Cuenca, Ecuador (3 votes) and Lima, Peru (1 vote). The Games were originally awarded to the first edition host La Paz, Bolivia, but this decision was retracted following domestic instability in Bolivia during 2005. This country did not participate in the subsequent selection process after ODESUR denied its request to reconsider the decision. Torch lighter at the Estadio del Parque Roca was multiple Olympic medalist, windsurfer Carlos Espínola.

Participants

15 ODESUR members participated on the games. Colombia returned from the games because it did not participate in the Previous games. Argentina had the most athletes (544) along with Brazil (424) and Chile (360). Guyana had the least athletes (4).

Venues

Buenos Aires

Mar del Plata

Other areas

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