1989 South Pacific Mini Games

The 1989 South Pacific Mini Games were held at Nuku'alofa in Tonga from 22 August to 1 September 1989. It was the third edition of the South Pacific Mini Games.[1]

1989 Pacific Mini Games

Host city	Nuku'alofa
Country	Tonga
Nations participating	16
Athletes participating	832
Opening ceremony	August 22, 1989 (1989-08-22)
Closing ceremony	September 1, 1989 (1989-09-01)
Officially opened by	King Taufa’ahau Tepou IV
Main venue	Teufaiva Sport Stadium

Tonga's national stadium, the Teufaiva Sport Stadium, was built for the Games on the previous site of the agricultural showgrounds.[2] The stadium, new Atele gymnasium, and tennis courts, were built or refurbished with the aid of Taiwan and France.[1] The venues were eventually completed just in time for the games following some controversy in the preceding months with the construction alarmingly behind schedule.[3]

Participating countries

Sixteen Pacific nations participated in the Games:[4]

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

Note: A number in parentheses indicate the size of a country's team (where known).

Sports

The six sports contested at the 1989 South Pacific Mini Games were:[1]

• Athletics (40) ()
• Boxing (12) ^a
• Golf (4) ^b

• Netball (1) ^c
• Tennis (5)
• Weightlifting ^d

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

Final medal table

Western Samoa topped the medal count:[4]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Western Samoa (WSM)	27	6	3	36
2	French Polynesia (PYF)	20	20	20	60
3	New Caledonia (NCL)	15	17	15	47
4	Papua New Guinea (PNG)	14	17	15	46
5	Fiji (FIJ)	5	7	12	24
6	Nauru (NRU)	3	0	0	3
7	Tonga (TON)	2	13	13	28
8	American Samoa (ASA)	2	5	10	17
9	Cook Islands (COK)	2	2	2	6
10	Guam (GUM)	1	1	4	6
11	Vanuatu (VAN)	1	0	2	3
12	Norfolk Island (NFK)	1	0	0	1
13	Solomon Islands (SOL)	0	4	3	7
14	Niue (NIU)	0	0	0	0
	Northern Mariana Islands (MNP)	0	0	0	0
	Wallis and Futuna (WLF)	0	0	0	0
Totals (16 nations)		93	92	99	284

See also

• Athletics at the 1989 South Pacific Mini Games

Notes

^a Western Samoa won six gold medals in the boxing competition that captured the local people's imagination – as reported by Pacific islands Monthly, "it seemed half of Nuku'alof was crammed into the indoor stadium".[5]

^b Golf: Fiji, captained by Adi Sainimili Tuivanuavou, won the women's team bronze at the 1989 South Pacific Mini Games.[6]

^c Netball: Cook Islands won the competition, defeating PNG by 53–49 in the final. Fiji did not play in the tournament.[7]

^d Nauru's 18-year-old Marcus Stephens broke all three South Pacific Games records in the 60 kg weightlifting class.[8]

References

1. "Third South Pacific Mini Games" (PDF). Olympic Review. International Olympic Committee. 1989. p. 112. Archived from the original (PDF 0.2 MB) on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
2. Besnier, Niko (2011). On the Edge of the Global: Modern Anxieties in a Pacific Island Nation. Stanford University Press, 2 Mar 2011. p. 183. ISBN 0804777640. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
3. Loranger, Carrie (1989). "Rushing for the games". Pacific Islands Monthly. Pacific Publications. 59 (19): 48. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
4. "Medals Won at Mini Games". Pacific Games Council. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
5. Reflections 1989, p. 49, col. 1, par. 2.
6. "Golf in Fiji will farewell Adi Sai". sportingpulse. National Golf Association of Fiji. 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-05-27.
7. Reflections 1989, p. 49, col. 3, par. 3.
8. Reflections 1989, p. 49, col. 3, par. 2.

Sources

• "Reflections on a mini event". Pacific Islands Monthly. Vol. 59 no. 21. 1989. pp. 48–49. Retrieved 27 October 2017.