One month to the South American Games: the event to transform Santa Fe | OneFootball

One month remains until the start of the 13th South American Games Santa Fe 2026, the most important international sporting event in the province’s history. From September 12 to 26, the cities of Santa Fe, Rosario, and Rafaela will become the stage for a competition that will bring together more than 4,000 athletes from 15 countries and feature 43 sports and 60 disciplines.

For 15 days, athletes from Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Curaçao, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela will compete for medals at venues spread across the three host cities.

But Santa Fe 2026 will be much more than a competition. The Games will showcase disciplines with a strong tradition as well as others seeking new audiences, offer the chance to see top-level athletes in action, and leave behind sports infrastructure that will continue to be used after the event ends.What are the South American Games?

The South American Games are a multi-sport competition that brings together athletes from the countries that make up the South American sports movement. Santa Fe will host the 13th edition, which for the first time will have a province as host, with three host cities: Santa Fe, Rosario, and Rafaela.

The program includes 43 sports and 60 disciplines, from athletics, swimming, soccer, and volleyball to cycling, sailing, Basque pelota, sport shooting, climbing, padel, and esports, among many others.A competition that also looks ahead to Lima 2027

One of the major sporting attractions of Santa Fe 2026 will be that 26 disciplines will award qualification spots for the Lima 2027 Pan American Games. In this way, for many athletes the competition will not only be an opportunity to win a South American medal, but also a decisive step on the road to the continent’s next major multi-sport event.

Qualification criteria vary according to each discipline. In athletics, for example, winners of the individual events will earn direct qualification for Lima 2027, while in other disciplines specific qualification systems will apply.Three cities, one sporting stage

Santa Fe 2026 will have a distinctive feature: the competitions will be spread across Santa Fe, Rosario, and Rafaela, three cities that will take on the challenge of welcoming delegations and the public during the two weeks of competition.

In Rosario, highlights include the Invencible Aquatic Center, Invencible Rosario, and Invencible Arena, in addition to various clubs and sports venues that will host the competitions.

In Santa Fe, Invencible Santa Fe and the Invencible International Sport Shooting Center, located in Recreo, will be part of the infrastructure prepared for the Games. Other sports facilities in the provincial capital that have been upgraded will also be used, such as the CARD athletics track.

Rafaela, meanwhile, will have Invencible Rafaela and the Invencible Velodrome, in addition to other facilities such as the BMX track, which will make it possible to host different disciplines in the sports program.Works that will remain after the Games

One of the main legacies of Santa Fe 2026 will be the infrastructure built and renovated to host the athletes. The Province is making an investment of more than 90 million dollars in works related to the Games, with 75 million dollars in external financing provided by CAF (Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean), in addition to contributions from the provincial treasury.

The transformation is not limited to sports venues. Athletes’ Villages are also being built in the three host cities, intended to accommodate athletes and delegations and later become part of the province’s urban and housing assets.

The goal is for the facilities to be used by athletes, clubs, federations, and institutions once the competition is over. In this way, the impact of the Games will continue long after September 26.One month to experience the Games

The countdown has already entered its final stage. As work progresses at the venues, initiatives are also multiplying to bring Santa Fe 2026 closer to the community.

The South American Tour has already visited different towns across the province with sports, recreational, and cultural activities, bringing the Games experience to children, young people, and families before the competition begins.

On September 12, that countdown will come to an end and two weeks will begin in which Santa Fe will be the stage for South American sport. Three cities, 43 sports, 60 disciplines, and more than 4,000 athletes will be part of an experience that aims to leave behind more than medals: infrastructure, knowledge, new opportunities, and a generation of people from Santa Fe brought closer to sport.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.