Opening night: On March 3rd 2013, 2738 athletes from 7 Central American nations participated in the opening ceremony in front of 35.000 people. For the next 15 days they competed across 27 disciplines in 21 venues. The total investment of this events surpassed US$30 million.
The Crown Jewel: Ciudad Deportiva San Jose. a US$7 million state-of-the-art sports complex with 80,000 sq. meters (811,000 sq. ft.) Of facilities that include the country's only NBA certified court, an olympic pool, racquetball courts, and a 1,000 sq. meters (10500 sq. ft.) skate park. This venue provides more than 50 free competitive, and recreational sport programs to a district with 60,000 people.
Legacy: in addition to the construction of Ciudad Deportiva San Jose, more than 10+ municipal sport facilities, and gyms in public high-schools were built or modernized in preparation for the competition.
Sylvia Poll, Costa Rica's 1st Olympic medalist, lighted the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, concluding the Olympic torch relay across 24 municipalities.
Taking a small break with Namu, the official mascot of the games.
The last one out turns off the lights: March 17th, 2013. Having directed the Control Room, a real-time operations center during 2 weeks of competitions, leading a team of 50+ stakeholders to prompt issue resolution, the games ended. Once I made sure the National Stadium was empty, I turned off the lights.
