The Pan American Games, sponsored by the nations of the Western Hemisphere, feature amateur athletic contests in a variety of sports. Since 1951, they have been held every four years, prior to the Olympic Games upon which they are modelled.~This unedited footage is part of the coverage of the 1979 Pan Am Games held in July in San Juan, Puerto Rico. An unidentified narrator comments on exerpts of events in foot racing, hurdles, discus throwing, springboard diving, shot putting, javelin throwing and gymnastics.~Coverage of the women's 100 metre foot race includes shots of Canada's Angella Taylor winning third place and Evelyn Ashford from the United States coming in first.~The men's hurdle includes Pat Fogerty of Canada, fourth place winner, former world record holder Alejandro Casanas of Cuba, who wins the silver, and this year's gold medalist Reinaldo Nehemiah of the United States.~The discus competition includes Mac Wilkins of the United States, considered the third best in history, winning a gold medal for the second time.~Peter Butler of Canada is one of the runners competing in a 5,000 metre course won by Matt Centrowitz of the United States.~The men's springboard diving includes shots and replays of Canada's Greg Louganis winning the gold, Carlos Giron of Mexico, the silver and Phil Boggs of the U.S., takes the bronze. Also shown is Ken Armstrong of Canada, who came in fourth in the platform diving event. In the shot put, footage includes Bruno Pauletto of Canada winning the bronze and Bishop Dolegiewiez's silver medal performance.~The women's 800 metre race shows eight participants including Brit Lind-Petersen and Anne Mackie-Morelli of Canada; as well as Essie Kelley of the U.S. who claimed the gold.~Duncan Atwood of the United States is shown performing his gold madal javelin throw, repeated in slow motion.~Gymnastic events include shots and a replay of floor exercises by Canada's Warren Long, winner of the bronze for individual all-round performance, and all-roiund gold medal winner Sergio Suarez of Cuba. On the pommel horse, Roberto Ricard of Cuba wins the gold and Jean Choquette of Canada wins the bronze. Three performers are shown on the rings.~The men's 400 meter hurdles includes shots of James Walker of the U.S. taking the gold and Antonio Diaz of Brazil getting the silver. In a noteworthy segment, an unidentified man addressed the microphone to announce that Canadian reporter [Doug Gilbert], here to cover the Games, was killed by a car outside his hotel in San Juan. The announcer notes that Gilbert, a former reporter for the "Edmonton Journal" and the Montreal "Gazette", won a national newspaper award for continuing excellent coverage of amateur sport in Canada.~This portion of the games coverage ends with footage of the 3,000 metre steeplechase. Among the ten competitors shown in this excerpt are Henry Marsh of the U.S. coming in first and Bill McCullough of the U.S. making second place. <60mn>
