Host city | Suva |
---|---|
Country | Fiji |
Nations | 13 |
Athletes | 646 |
Events | 10 sports 58 medal events |
Opening | 29 August 1963 |
Closing | 8 September 1963 |
Opened by | Sir Kenneth Maddocks,[1] Governor of Fiji |
The 1963 South Pacific Games, held from 29 August to 9 September 1963 at Suva in Fiji, was the first edition of the South Pacific Games. The multisport games were established to engender bonds of friendship amongst peoples in the Pacific, after an idea originated by Dr A.H. Sahu Khan was adopted by the South Pacific Commission. At a meeting of nine Territories, held in Nouméa during March 1961, Fiji was awarded the honour of hosting the first Games.[2]
Thirteen Pacific nations or territories, and 646 competitors, participated in the Games:[3][4]
Ten sports were contested at the 1963 South Pacific Games:[6][7][8]
The home nation, Fiji, easily topped the (unofficial) medal tally:†
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fiji | 33 ‡ | 23 | 26 § | 82† |
2 | Papua and New Guinea | 9 | 11 ‡ | 11 | 31† |
3 | New Caledonia | 7 | 9 | 11 | 27 |
4 | French Polynesia | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
5 | Tonga | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
6 | American Samoa | 1 | 2 | 3 § | 7† |
7 | Cook Islands | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
8 | Western Samoa | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
9 | Gilbert and Ellice Islands | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
10 | New Hebrides | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Totals† | 58† | 57† | 60† | 175† |
The following table provides a summary of the competition schedule.[9]
OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
August and September 1963 | 29th Thu |
30th Fri |
31st Sat |
1st Sun |
2nd Mon |
3rd Tue |
4th Wed |
5th Thu |
6th Fri |
7th Sat |
Gold medals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceremonies | OC | CC | |||||||||
Athletics | 8 | 8 | 13 | 29 | |||||||
Basketball | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||
Boxing | ● | ● | 8 | 8 | |||||||
Football | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||||
Netball | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||||
Rugby union | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |||||
Swimming | ● | 5 | ● | 4 | 5 | 14 | |||||
Table tennis | ● | ● | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | |||||
Tennis | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | |
Volleyball | ● | ● | ● | 1 | 2 | ||||||
Total gold medals | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 58 |
Cumulative total | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 22 | 26 | 40 | 46 | 56 | 58 |