Pacific Mini Games

The Pacific Mini Games is a multi-sport event contested by countries and territories located in Oceania. It was known as the South Pacific Mini Games prior to 2009. The event has been held every four years since the inaugural games in Honiara, Solomon Islands in 1981. It is called the 'Mini' games because it is a scaled-down version of the main Pacific Games and is similarly rotated on a four-year basis in the intervening years between the main games.

Pacific Mini Games
AbbreviationPMG
First event1983
Occur every4 years
HeadquartersSuva, Fiji
PresidentVidhya Lakhan
WebsiteOfficial website

Concept

Following the success of the main Pacific Games, the Pacific Games council decided to create a smaller version of the games to enable smaller nations and territories to host events and compete against each other. From this came the Pacific Mini Games.

Pacific Games Council
Main article: Pacific Games § Council

The governing body for the mini games is the Pacific Games Council. Much like the main games, the Games council flag is presented to the host nation of the next mini games at the end of every games. As of 2017,[1] the council has 22 member nations.

Two other nations, Australia and New Zealand, are not members of the council but are invited as observers to the council's general assembly.[1] These nations participated at the mini games in 2017 and made their main games debut in 2015.[1]

Editions
Host cities of the Pacific Mini Games
Year Games Host Dates Athletes Nations Sports Top nation
1981 I Honiara,​ Solomon Islands 7–19 July 600 15 5  New​ Caledonia
1985 II Rarotonga,​ Cook Islands 31 July – ​9 August 700 15 6  Papua​ New Guinea
1989 III Nukuʻalofa,​ Tonga 22 August – ​1 September 832 16 6 Western​ Samoa
1993 IV Port Vila,​ Vanuatu 9–16 December 15 6  Fiji
1997 V Pago Pago,​ American Samoa 11–22 August 1,798 19 11  Nauru
2001 VI Kingston,​ Norfolk Island 3–14 December 18 10  Fiji
2005 VII Koror,​ Palau 25 July – ​4 August 20 12  New​ Caledonia
2009 VIII Rarotonga,​ Cook Islands 21 September – ​2 October 21 15  Fiji
2013 IX Mata Utu,​ Wallis and Futuna 2–12 September 22 8  Papua​ New Guinea
2017 X Port Vila,​ Vanuatu 4–15 December 2,000 23 14  New​ Caledonia
2021 XI Saipan,​ Northern Marianas TBD TBD 24 6
2025 XII Koror,​ Palau TBD TBD

As with the main games, the cost of providing the necessary facilities and infrastructure is a concern to the region's smaller nations. In preparation for the 2009 Games in Rarotonga, despite having hosted the games previously, the local government considered diverting funds from a highway project, and secured a loan for US$10 million from the Chinese government to finance the building of a stadium.[2][3]

Sports
Further information: Pacific Games § Sports

There are 37 sports approved by the Pacific Games Council as of December 2017. Unlike the main games, the Pacific Mini Games does not have a compulsory sports list. However, 50 percent of the sports selected for a games must be from the compulsory sports list of the Pacific Games Council.

After the 2017 games, 30 of the 37 sports have been included at the mini games since the inaugural edition in 1981.

Listed are sports already contested at the Pacific Mini Games.

Sport Contested Years
Archery 2 times 2001, 2017
Athletics All 1981–present
Badminton Future 2021
Baseball Once 2005
Basketball 3 times 1997, 2005, 2017
Bodybuilding Once 2001
Boxing 6 times 1981, 1989–1997, 2009, 2017
Football 3 times 1981, 1993, 2017
Golf 7 times 1985–2001, 2009–present
Judo Once 2017
Karate Once 2017
Lawn bowls 3 times 1985, 2001, 2009
Netball 8 times 1981–2001, 2009, 2017
Outrigger canoeing 3 times 2005–2013
Powerlifting Once 1997
Rugby 7s 4 times 1997, 2009–2017
Sailing 3 times 1997, 2009−2013
Shooting Once 2001
Softball Once 2005
Squash 2 times 2001, 2009
Swimming Once 2005
Table tennis 3 times 2005-09, 2017
Taekwondo Once 2013
Tennis 9 times 1981–2009, 2017–present
Touch rugby Once 2009
Triathlon 3 times 2001–2009
Volleyball and

Beach volleyball §

 2 times (indoor) and

3 times (beach)

 1997, 2013 (indoor) and

2005, 2013–present (beach)

Weightlifting 6 times 1989, 1997, 2005–present
Wrestling Once 2005

Former sports

Both disciplines have been replaced by other versions of the sports. Rugby 15s (replaced by Rugby 7s), and Rugby league 7s (replaced by Rugby league 9s).

Sport Contested Years
Rugby 15s Once 1985
Rugby league 7s Once 2009

All-time medal table

The all-time medal tally shows the total medals won by a Pacific Games Association from 1981 to 2017.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 New Caledonia237167129533
2 Fiji180161161502
3 Papua New Guinea149159144452
4 French Polynesia1299484307
5 Samoa1257580280
6 Nauru662330119
7 Vanuatu405257149
8 Cook Islands384848134
9 Tonga294272143
10 American Samoa27322281
11 Solomon Islands235657136
12 Kiribati19111646
13 Wallis and Futuna9242659
14 Guam9142346
15 Palau911727
16 F.S. Micronesia96520
17 Norfolk Island7171236
18 Marshall Islands56011
19 Northern Mariana Islands412925
20 Niue214723
21 New Zealand2709
22 Independent PGC athletes2103
23 Tuvalu131014
24 Tokelau0213
25 Australia0022
Totals (25 nations)1121103710023160

See also

References
  1. "Vanuatu committed to 2017 Pacific Mini Games". Cook Islands News. 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  2. Stadium and China loan on hold Archived 8 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine Cook Islands News Online, 12 September 2007
  3. "Stadium for Mini Games in Cooks gets go-ahead". Radio New Zealand. 11 March 2008. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008.

Sources
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