Unofficial South American Championships in Athletics were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on May 24–26, 1918.

The event was entitled "Campeonato de Iniciación".

[1] It was organized by the "Federación Pedestre Argentina", the predecessor of the "Federación Atlética Argentina" (founded in 1919) and the "Confederación Argentina de Atletismo" (founded in 1954), and was then representing Argentinian athletics.

[2] In a historical meeting on May 24, 1918, in the "salón de honor" (hall of fame) of the newspaper "La Razón", its director, Eloy María Prieto, together with Leopoldo Falconi, Carlos Fanta and Alfredo Betteley, representatives from Chile, and Dr. Francisco Ghigliani, representative from Uruguay, decided the foundation of the Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo nowadays known as ConSudAtle.

[1] * = Actual distance was 40.2 km *   Host nation (Argentina)