1991 South Pacific Games

1991 South Pacific Games

Host city	Port Moresby and Lae
Country	Papua New Guinea
Nations participating	16
Athletes participating	2,000+ ^a
Events	17 sports 164 medal events
Opening ceremony	September 7, 1991
Closing ceremony	September 21, 1991
Officially opened by	The Duke of York
<  1987 Nouméa 1995 Papeete  >

The 1991 South Pacific Games, held from 7–21 September 1991 at Port Moresby and Lae in Papua New Guinea, was the ninth edition of the South Pacific Games. This was the first time that events at one games had been held in two cities. The decision to do so was to allow both locations to benefit from the construction of new facilities.^[1]

Participating countries

Sixteen Pacific nations participated in the Games:^[2]

•  American Samoa
•  Cook Islands
•  Fiji
•  French Polynesia
•  Guam
•  Nauru
•  New Caledonia
•  Norfolk Island
•  Northern Marianas
•  Niue
•  Papua New Guinea
•  Solomon Islands
•  Tonga
•  Vanuatu
•  Wallis and Futuna
•  Western Samoa

Sports

17 sports were contested at the 1991 South Pacific Games:^[1]

• Athletics (41) ()
• Basketball (2) () ^b
• Boxing (12)
• Cricket (1)
• Football (1) ()
• Golf (4)
• Bowls (10)
• Netball (1)
• Rugby union (1) ()
• Sailing (8)
• Softball (2)
• Squash (4) ^c
• Swimming (32) ^d
• Table tennis (7)
• Tennis (7)
• Volleyball (2)
• Weightlifting (30)

Note: A number in parentheses indicates how many medal events were contested in that sport (where known).

Final medal table

Medals were awarded in a total of 164 events:^[2]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Papua New Guinea	44	29	27	100
2	French Polynesia	30	24	26	80
3	New Caledonia	29	29	27	85
4	Western Samoa	19	13	6	38
5	Fiji	13	30	23	66
6	Guam	10	11	16	37
7	American Samoa	9	6	8	23
8	Tonga	3	2	10	15
9	Vanuatu	3	2	2	7
10	Nauru	3	0	5	8
11	Cook Islands	1	4	6	11
12	Wallis and Futuna	0	6	12	18
13	Solomon Islands	0	5	2	7
14	Norfolk Island	0	3	0	3
Totals		164	164	170	498

See also

• Athletics at the 1991 South Pacific Games
• Football at the 1991 South Pacific Games

Notes

^a More than 2,000 athletes took part in the 1991 Games, which had more athletes and competitions than Auckland's 1990 Commonwealth Games.^[3]

^b Western Samoa initially took the men's basketball gold medal but the team was disqualified after a citizenship controversy, in which players were deemed ineligible.^[4]

^c Squash: There were individual and team events for men and women. PNG won all four gold medals.^[5] The South Pacific Games Council had announced in 1978 that squash would be included in the Games, and it was played in 1979, 1983, 1987, and 1991.^[6]

^d Swimming: French Polynesia's 14-year-old star Daine Lacombe won five gold medals in the pool.^[7]

References

1. Wightman, Brian (1992). "Ninth South Pacific Games in Port Moresby" (PDF 0.4 MB). Olympic Information Cente. pp. 50–53. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
2. "South Pacific Games 1991". Pacific Games Council. 8 March 2007. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
3. "Half-naked maidens shield prince". The Canberra Times. 8 September 1991. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
4. "W. Samoans barred for using recent imports". The Canberra Times. 3 June 1993. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
5. SPG Results 1991, p. 10.
6. "...that in 1978 Squash was included for the FIRST time". Squash Fiji. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
7. "PNG leads medal tally as records tumble". The Canberra Times. 15 September 1973. Retrieved 27 May 2015.

Sources

• 1991 South Pacific Games Results. Oceania Sport Information Centre (Report). Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.