During the Pan American games, police and army troops flooded the streets, smothering crime.

ECONOMIST: Brazil and the Olympics

Her thirteenth-place finish in the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada qualified her for Sydney in 2000.

FORBES: Bankroll An Olympian

The white elephants of the Pan American games will find a new use.

ECONOMIST: Brazil and the Olympics

Rio also won points with an ambitious budget and new venues like the Joao Havelange Stadium, which opened for the 2007 Pan American Games.

CNN: Brazilians celebrate Olympics bid in Rio de Janeiro

Ward was accused of trying to help his brother's energy firm get a contract at the upcoming Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic.

FORBES: Magazine Article

All this has paid off: Venezuela's football team, long embarrassing also-rans in South America, has become competitive, and the country has won many more medals at the two latest Pan-American games than in the past.

ECONOMIST: The president-fan reaps a sporting harvest

Rio de Janeiro's successful staging of the Pan-American Games in 2007 and their future hosting of the 2014 World Cup seemed to bolster its prospects, but the IOC recently noted that it would not be capable of providing the level of security and safety required for the Games.

BBC: Obama to woo IOC over Chicago bid