The United States delegation has arrived in Guadalajara for the Pan American Games with a host of top athletes despite the absence of some of the country’s best sportsmen and women.

Favorites to head the games’ medal table, the U.S. team features 82 Olympians, 40 of whom are Olympic medalists and ten Olympic champions.

Between them, the athletes have a won 59 Olympic medals. The most decorated individuals are gymnast Shawn Johnson and shooter Kim Rhode, with four medals apiece.

Other notable athletes include Brady Ellison, the number one ranked archer in the world, and Mariel Zagunis, the two-time defending Olympic and world champion fencer.

U.S. Chef de Mission Alan Ashley said the principal aim of many athletes taking part in the games is to obtain qualification for the 2012 London Olympics.

“In spite of the young age of some in our delegation, we have many elite athletes,” Ashley said.

The United States has finished top of the medal table in 13 of the 15 Pan American Games held since 1951.

Meanwhile, the bad weather in Jalisco upset the arrival and preparations of the Canadian delegation to some extent.

Nine members of Canada’s sailing team postponed their travel to Puerto Vallarta, after Hurricane Jova passed within 20 kilometers of the city. The Canadian sailors were expected to arrive in two groups on Wednesday and Thursday.

Persistent rain in Guadalajara also forced Canada to postpone its traditional flag-raising ceremony at the athletes village from Wednesday to Thursday.

“The athletes are doing the best they can,” Curt Harnett, Canada’s assistant Chef de Mission, told the Globe and Mail. “Despite being a little damp, spirits are very high, and there’s a lot of excitement among the team.”

Canada will have 493 athletes competing in Guadalajara, the largest team the country has ever sent to a Pan American Games outside of Canada. Among the most notable athletes are Christine Sinclair, Canada’s most capped player and all-time leading goalscorer in female soccer, and Emilie Heymans, the defending Pan American diving champion. Sinclair will carry the Canadian flag in Friday’s opening ceremony.

One of the brightest medal hopes among the Canadian delegation will be shot putter Dylan Armstrong, who won gold at the 2007 games in Rio de Janeiro. He also won the silver medal in the men’s shot put final at last month’s World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea.