SANTA MARTA, Colombia — The Women’s Softball competition of the Bolivarian Games Santa Marta 2017 has begun with the participation of the Bolivia, Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela National Teams.
After the spectacular inauguration on Saturday — a tribute to the sea, the Sierra Nevada, the indigenous communities and Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize for Literature, and the closing of the local singer Carlos Vives — the various sports competitions were launched.
On Sunday it was the turn of Softball, which began its event with three games. This competition will finish next Thursday with the delivery of medals.
On the opening day there were three lopsided results, perhaps showing the three main candidates to get on the podium next Thursday.
Earlier, Venezuela beat Bolivia by 10-0, then Panama beat Peru by 7-0, while in the last game of the day, Colombia also defeated the Inca team by 8-0.
Four meetings are scheduled for today in the Softball Stadium of the Bolivarian Sports Park. At 9 am Panama will play against Bolivia; at 11:30 Peru will face Venezuela; at 2:00 PM Colombia and Venezuela will play in the most anticipated game of the day; while at 4:30 the locals will face Bolivia.
The Bolivarian Sports Games were created to honor the Venezuelan hero Simón Bolívar, liberator of the current Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela, and its first edition was held in 1938, during the fourth centenary of the foundation of Bogotá. The Bolivarian Games are held every four years and depend on the Bolivarian Sports Organization which is part of the Pan American Sports Organization (ODEPA), a subsidiary of the International Olympic Committee. For that reason, the Bolivarian Games are considered as the beginning of the Olympic Cycle that, after the ODESUR Games and the Pan American Games, will finish at the Olympic Games.
