POINTERS TO PARADISE:
GAMES OPENING CEREMONY RAROTONGA SITE MAP HOME SURPRISE ME!
OR FIND YOUR OWN PIECE OF PARADISE USING THE MENU ON THE LEFT
GAMES OPENING CEREMONY RAROTONGA SITE MAP HOME SURPRISE ME!
OR FIND YOUR OWN PIECE OF PARADISE USING THE MENU ON THE LEFT
21ST SEPTEMBER TO 2ND OCTOBER, 2009
It was the biggest event in the Cook Islands for 24 years with teams from 22 countries all over the Pacific region descending on Rarotonga to take part! And it was both a spectacle of sport, and a huge celebration of Cook Islands and South Pacific life.
COMPETING NATIONS
Marshall Islands Kiribati Niue Cook Islands Guam Micronesia American Samoa Norfolk Island Palau Northern Mariana Islands Solomon Islands Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Wallis and Futuna Fiji French Polynesia Nauru New Caledonia
Papua New Guinea Samoa Vanuatu (including New Hebrides)
Marshall Islands Kiribati Niue Cook Islands Guam Micronesia American Samoa Norfolk Island Palau Northern Mariana Islands Solomon Islands Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Wallis and Futuna Fiji French Polynesia Nauru New Caledonia
Papua New Guinea Samoa Vanuatu (including New Hebrides)
THE SPORTING SPECTACLE
Teams will participate in 14 different sports: athletics, boxing, golf, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7s, rugby league, sailing, squash, table tennis, tennis, touch, triathlon, Va'a (canoeing), and weightlifting.
The host country team features athletes such as Gordon Heather (pictured left) who is the fastest man in the Cook Islands. He can cover 100 metres in just over 11 seconds, as he proved at the Beijing Olympics. And 19 year old Sam Pera Jnr (right) is the Islands' leading weightlifter with Olympic and Commonwealth Games experience behind him.
PURPOSE BUILT STADIUM
A huge, purpose built indoor sports stadium at Nikao on Rarotonga was the focal point of the games. The Chinese government provided a low cost loan of almost NZ$14 million (approx. UK£5m, US$7.4m, 5.8m Euros) to the Cook Islands government to pay for the building, which itself has caused a lot of local controversy.
Fijian,Dr A.H. Sahu Khan came up with the idea in 1959 at a meeting of the South Pacific Commission
Fiji was the first host country in 1963
The objective of the Games is "creating bonds of kindred friendship and brotherhood amongst people of the countries of the Pacific region through sporting exchange without any distinctions as to race, religion or politics."
The Cook Islands last hosted the Games in 1985
The Games have been held in 12 countries and territories in the region
Many countries boycotted the 1995 Games in Papeete, Tahiti as a direct protest at French nuclear testing in the Pacific
New Caledonia has won the most medals (658 gold, 516 silver and 468 bronze)
Tuvalu has won the fewest medals (1 silver, 1 bronze)
The games were held every 3 years (not four) until 1975
Every games (including this year's) has had a controversy over whether events should take place on a Sunday
Fiji was the first host country in 1963
The objective of the Games is "creating bonds of kindred friendship and brotherhood amongst people of the countries of the Pacific region through sporting exchange without any distinctions as to race, religion or politics."
The Cook Islands last hosted the Games in 1985
The Games have been held in 12 countries and territories in the region
Many countries boycotted the 1995 Games in Papeete, Tahiti as a direct protest at French nuclear testing in the Pacific
New Caledonia has won the most medals (658 gold, 516 silver and 468 bronze)
Tuvalu has won the fewest medals (1 silver, 1 bronze)
The games were held every 3 years (not four) until 1975
Every games (including this year's) has had a controversy over whether events should take place on a Sunday
TEN THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE GAMES
Miss South Pacific, Vanessa Marsh from Nuie led her team into the stadium for the opening ceremony
15 year old weighlifter, Elson Brecherfield proudly carries the flag of his tiny homeland, Nauru
Team Samoa - sporting triumph amid tsunami tragedy
THROUGH YOUNG BRITISH EYES
Eight young people from Manchester, England (just down the road from me!) filed their own unique reports on the Games.
They're members of S2R - Supporters to Reporters - a media project started in 2007 to inspire youngsters to get involved in sports reporting. Here they introduce themselves...and try their hand at the local lingo! And the whole project is itself inspired by the 2012 Olympics in London.
They're members of S2R - Supporters to Reporters - a media project started in 2007 to inspire youngsters to get involved in sports reporting. Here they introduce themselves...and try their hand at the local lingo! And the whole project is itself inspired by the 2012 Olympics in London.
VIDEO ZONE: SEE FOR YOURSELF