1991 South Pacific Games

1991 South Pacific Games
Official logo of the Games
Host cityPort Moresby and Lae
CountryPapua New Guinea
Nations16
Athletes2,000+ a
Events164 in 17 sports
OpeningSeptember 7, 1991 (1991-09-07)
ClosingSeptember 21, 1991 (1991-09-21)
Opened byPrince Andrew, Duke of York
Main venueSir John Guise Stadium

The 1991 South Pacific Games (Tok Pisin: 1991 Saut Pasifik Gems), offically the IX South Pacific Games, and also known as Papua New Guinea 1991 or Moresby-Lae 1991, were the ninth edition of the South Pacific Games held from 7 to 21 September 1991 in Port Moresby and Lae.[1]

For the first time, the South Pacific Games were co-hosted by two cities; the PNG capital of Port Moresby (which was hosting the Games for the second time after 1969), and Lae, the capital of Morobe Province.[1] Events were held in and around the two cities with the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games held at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby.

The host nation, Papua New Guinea, topped the medal table, winning the most gold medals (44) and the highest number of medals overall (100); this was PNG's first time to top the medal tally at a South Pacific Games. French Polynesia finished second with 30 golds and 80 overall medals.New Caledonia finished third.[2]

Development and preparations

While the arrangement of hosting the Games in two separate cities presented organisational challenges, it resulted in significant upgrades to sporting infrastructure in both locations. Port Moresby hosted athletics, basketball, cricket, lawn tennis, netball, rugby union, softball, squash, swimming, and sailing (including boardsailing and Hobie Cat), while Lae staged boxing, golf, lawn bowls, football, table tennis, volleyball, and weightlifting.[1]

A dedicated Games Village was constructed to accommodate the athletes, with catering facilities providing approximately 25,000 meals per day for competitors and officials.[1]

Construction and preparation were supported by contributions from both domestic and international sources. China provided an interest-free loan of PGK9 million for the main venue in Port Moresby (the Sir John Guise Sports Complex). Japan funded the Sir Ignatius Kilage Sports Complex in Lae at a cost of PGK16 million and supplied PGK300,000 worth of equipment. South Korea donated PGK30,000 in sports equipment, France contributed PGK55,500 for sailboards, and the United Kingdom provided personnel assistance.[1] The Government of Papua New Guinea was the largest contributor, allocating PGK3.69 million in direct funding, exempting the Games from taxation and duty, and providing more than PGK3 million in additional support through government departments and ministries, including Education, Foreign Affairs, Police, Defence, Health, and Works.[1]

Sponsorships and fundraising supplemented these contributions, bringing the total budget to PGK46 million. The Games were credited with stimulating the development of sporting facilities and technical expertise across the Pacific region.[1]

Venues

The 1991 South Pacific Games were held across multiple venues in Port Moresby and Lae. Each city featured a newly constructed main sporting complex built specifically for the Games: the Sir John Guise Sports Complex in Port Moresby and the Sir Ignatius Kilage Sports Complex in Lae. In addition to these, nine existing venues and two temporary venues were utilised. The temporary venues were at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology and, although normally reserved for student use, were adapted for the Games—Duncanson Hall (a lecture theatre) hosted the weightlifting competition, while the university’s oval was used for soccer.

Port Moresby

Lae

  • Sir Ignatius Kilage Sports Complex (new)
    • Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium – football
    • Sir Ignatius Kilage Indoor Stadium – boxing, table tennis, volleyball (finals)
    • SIKS volleyball court – volleyball (preliminaries)
  • Lae Bowls Club (existing) – lawn bowls
  • Lae Golf Club (existing) – golf
  • PNG University of Technology
    • Duncanson Hall (temporary) – weightlifting
    • Unitech Oval (temporary) – football (classification matches)

Participating countries

Sixteen Pacific nations participated in the Games:[2]

Sports

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


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

Medal bable

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

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Papua New Guinea (PNG)442927100
2 French Polynesia (PYF)30242680
3 New Caledonia (NCL)29292785
4 Western Samoa (WSM)1913638
5 Fiji (FIJ)13302366
6 Guam (GUM)10111637
7 American Samoa (ASA)96823
8 Tonga (TON)321015
9 Vanuatu (VAN)3227
10 Nauru (NRU)3003
11 Cook Islands (COK)14510
12 Wallis and Futuna (WLF)06612
13 Solomon Islands (SOL)051217
14 Norfolk Island (NFI)0325
Totals (14 entries)164164170498

See also

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. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c "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

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