The Island Games
At the Half Court Press, we love a multi-sports festival; the pageantry, the celebration of competition, the spectacle of varied and exciting events. It’s all something that can bring people together from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and cultures. The famous ones, of course, are the Commonwealth, Pan American and Olympic Games. A festival that you might not be aware of, however, is the International Island Games.
The teams involved have traditionally been non-sovereign island territories, provinces and dependancies of larger countries. The event has been put on every two years, since 1985 and it all started in the Isle of Man. The small piece of land placed between Britain and Ireland, decided that they wanted to put on a ‘mini-Olympics’ and it was attended by 15 separate islands and 700 competitors, who participated in seven different sports. It seems that it was a success and has become a biennial festival ever since, with the International Island Games Association (IIGA) being set up to oversee operations. There’s been solid growth for the Island Games over the years. The 2007 festival on the Greek municipality of Rhodes saw a record of 2,343 participants, representing 25 islands. Most recently, Gibraltar, just off the coast of Spain, took on the responsibility of hosts. 14 different sports were put on, for 1,624 participants across 22 teams. When deciding on the host, the authorities who make the decision look at how a legacy can be developed, how best to represent the island’s culture, as well as developing and modernising the local infrastructure and tourism trade. Additionally, the Games look to create new sporting venues and encourage sports participation and physical activity within the community.
Here is a list of the complete medal table from the history of the International Island Games. (*denotes competing teams who are no longer a part of the IIGA and therefore no longer compete.)
Over the years there has been some well known and successful participants involved. Several athletes have gone onto competing at quite a high level, since the turning out for their respective Islands…
- Mark Cavendish (Cycling) – Isle of Man; the Manxman has won 30 Individual Stages at the Tour de France, the Scratch Race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and three UCI Track World Championships
- Kelly Sotherton (Heptathlon & 400m) – Isle of Wight; she has won eight Gold Medals at the Island Games, as well a Gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She has won a Bronze Medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and two more at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Mattias Sunneborn (Long Jump and 200m) – Gotland; the Swedish track and field athlete is an indoor World and European Silver Medalist and competed at the 1996 Olympics, in Atlanta
- Cydonie Mothersille (200m) – Cayman Islands; born in Jamaica, she moved with her family to the Cayman Islands as a child. She has won a Bronze at the 2001 World Championships, Silver at the 2003 Pan American Games and Gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
- Pál Joensen (Swimming) – Faroe Islands; Joensen has an impressive medal record at the Island Games. Four Bronze, ten Silver and a mighty 22 Gold Medals across four years of competition, is impressive by anybody’s estimation. He also has four Silver Medals at the European Championships and a Bronze at the 2012 World Championships
- Albert Torres (Cycling) – Menorca; The Spanish cyclist has competed at a number of events and won a variety of medals at top level competitions, including three Gold’s at the European Championships and another at the 2014 World Championships
The island of Gibraltar, just off the coast of the Spanish mainland, hosted the most recent games in July of 2019, where approximately 2,000 athletes competed. Jersey toped off the medals table, with 33 Golds and 93 in total, with the Isle of Man and the Faroe Islands coming in second and third positions, respectively. The English Islands faired quite well, with Guernsey and the Isle of Wight also featuring in the top ten. 14 different sports were played at this competition, with a variety of different categories and divisions being held for each one. Alongside the medals table, please find an abridged version of the names of the medal winners. Guernsey will host the 2021 Island Games, with an estimated 3,000 athletes expected to participate. Orkney is lined up to put on the twentieth version of the Games in 2023.
