Country profile: sport and physical activity policy in Peru

This profile aims to offer a comprehensive overview of Peru’s existing sports and physical activity policies, as well as its sports system. Peru, the birthplace of the oldest civilisation in the Americas and home to one of the empires with the most significant archaeological legacy, boasts a rich history developed through various ancient cultures. Despite its 200 years of independence and a long-standing sporting tradition, which includes participation since the inaugural edition of the Summer Olympic Games, the country has garnered only four Olympic medals and nine Paralympic medals. In that line, the hosting of the XVIII Pan American Games and the VI Parapan American Games served as Peru’s soft power strategy in a sports mega-event. Regardless of the government’s century-long efforts to regulate physical activity and sports, from schools to high performance, sports have never been a priority for the country. This is compounded by inadequate budget management within the sports sector, limited private investment, and a lack of leadership. Being so, the current sports policy, projecting into 2030, poses a significant national challenge, as it extends beyond sports or athletes, benefiting all citizens. On that note, the services it establishes should be provided by the three levels of government, requiring effective functional and financial decentralisation of the government, with the primary focus on enhancing the management capacity of civil servants. In this context, Lima will host the Pan American and Parapan American Games in 2027, which presents a new challenge for the government to determine the legacy of this mega-event.