Twenty days ago, Toronto opened the 17th Pan Am Games with a flurry of fireworks from one of the tallest man-made structures in the world. My friends and family billed it as a “once in a lifetime” event: the chance to photograph – and represent Last Word On Sports at – these games. While I didn’t grasp the magnitude of it at the start; I certainly do now.

I was given the chance to photograph some of the best athletes the Western Hemisphere has to offer. It was amazing, humbling, inspiring and to steal a phrase from the marketing gurus at these games, quite simply, it was Pan-Amazing.

Over the 16 days, I shot over 20 events around the Toronto area (including soccer in my hometown of Hamilton!) and took just over 10,000 photos.

Here are some of my favourites from Toronto 2015.

Do you have any photos to share from the Games? Share them with us on Facebook, Twitter or just tell us about your Pan Am experience in the comments below.

We at Last Word on Sports would like to thank Kevin for taking the time out of his schedule to take all these photographs for the site. Some of them truly are works of art. We’d also like to thank the Pan Am organizing committee, and the Canadian Olympic Committee for giving Kevin Gamble (photographer); and Michael Kovacs and Ben Kerr (writers) credentials to cover the games up close, to interview the athletes, and to bring our writers the stories of the games. For more of our Pan Am Games coverage, you can click here.

All Photos Copyright Kevin Gamble/Last Word on Sports Inc., All Rights Reserved.