Gymnast Tomás González led the parade of home athletes, who received a standing ovation and deafening applause inside the stadium as the 3,700 participants from 14 countries were presented to the sell-out crowd.

The host nation will be hoping to make full use of home advantage across the 33 sports to increase its medal haul from the last Games four years ago in Medellín, where it won 25 gold medals and finished fifth on the overall leader-board.

Outgoing President Sebastián Piñera's administration has invested $45 million (£27 million/€32 million) in the Games for construction work that has included a brand new $18 million (£11 million/€13 million) velodrome.

Gabriel Ruiz-Tagle, Chile's Sports Minister, described the investment as a symbol of what the Government had always been trying to do for the nation's athletes and hoped that the Games will provide a pedestal for sport to grow across Chile.

Tomás González led the parade of Chilean athletes at the 2014 South American Games Opening Ceremony ©LatinContent/Getty Images





"We're making an invitation to the public to come and support our sportsmen and women," he said.

"There are going to be many different sports, some that are little known in this country.

"The people who want to assure themselves of a ticket can do so at very reasonable prices, but there will also be plenty of free tickets so that the Games are open to the maximum amount of people possible.

"I hope there isn't going to be any empty arena or a venue where there isn't big support for our sportsmen and women."

"This competition will be a significant step forward for us as a country.

"We've put a lot of work into the facilities and we've made a big effort with the athletes.

"We hope there will be a legacy from this, and we want to encourage our young people and make them enthusiastic about sport."

Rodrigo Eyzaguirre, head of communications at Santiago 2014, explained that by providing most of the tickets free of charge, the Government hopes to maximise attendance and participation in a wide variety of sports that miss out on wide media coverage, hopefully providing a stepping stone to hosting sporting events on a larger scale in the future.

"If large crowds turn up to watch the Games this would be excellent backing from a cultural perspective, showing that people show up in support of sports other than football," he said.

"We could then think about a serious bid for the Pan American Games in 2023 or 2027."

Most events will be taking place in Santiago, in particular at the National Stadium, although some events such as handball, rowing and the triathlon will be taking place in Valparaíso, with reigning South American Games triathlon champion Bárbara Riveros set to defend her title there on home soil.

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