Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes and COP counterpart Camilo Pérez López Moreira were in attendance at a ceremony to mark the opening of the Olympic Park.

The project has been supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Pan American Sports Organization and the National Secretary of Sport.

It includes a Olympic Training Centre for athletes who compete in sports such as taekwondo, karate, judo, boxing, fencing, mixed martial arts and weightlifting.

An indoor centre is also located on the site, which can house badminton, as well as a full-size rugby pitch.

The Olympic Park in the Paraguayan capital also features the country's first International Association of Athletics Federations class II graded track.

Four tennis courts, with seating for 485 spectators, and a beach sports complex also form part of the park.

The beach complex has two small courts for volleyball and one for football.

The Park has its own internal road system as well as a shotgun range.

It is hoped the Park will help the development of sport in the nation with a view to improving their performance at the Olympic Games.

"With the support of the IOC it was possible to carry out the master-plan and project for the construction of the Olympic Park," the COP said.

Paraguay's silver medal in the men's football tournament at Athens 2004 remains the only Olympic medal they have ever won.

The South American nation sent a team of 11 to last year's Games in Rio de Janeiro.

They competed in seven sports - athletics, golf, rowing, shooting, swimming, table tennis and tennis.