XV Pacific Games
Official logo of the Games
Host cityPort Moresby
Country Papua New Guinea
Nations participating24
Athletes participating3,796[citation needed]
Events299 in 28 sports
Opening ceremony4 July
Closing ceremony18 July
Officially opened byPrince Andrew, Duke of York
Athlete's OathDeslyn Siniu
Judge's OathSusan Babao
Torch lighterDika Toua
Main venueSir John Guise Stadium

The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015.[1] It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby.

More than 3,700 athletes from the 22 Pacific Games Associations plus first time entrants Australia and New Zealand, took part.[2][3] With almost 300 sets of medals, the games featured 28 sports, 19 of which are on the 2016 Summer Olympics program. Only men's football was a straight qualifying event for Rio 2016. These sporting events took place in 14 venues in the host city.

The host nation, Papua New Guinea, topped the medal table for only the second time, winning the most golds (88) and most medals overall (217).[4] New Caledonia finished second making it only the third time the French territory had failed to place first. Tahiti finished third. Tuvalu won its first ever gold medal at the games, and the debuting teams from Australia and New Zealand won their first Pacific Games medals including gold.[5][6][7]

Host selection

Five South Pacific island nations bid for opportunity to host the 2015 Pacific Games. They were:

On 27 September 2009, the Pacific Games Council, at its meeting coinciding with the 2009 Pacific Mini Games, elected Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea as the host of the 2015 Games. The final vote was 25–22 in favor of Port Moresby over Tonga to host.[8]

2015 Pacific Games bidding results
City PGA Final Votes
Port Moresby  Papua New Guinea 25
Nukuʻalofa  Tonga 22

Development and preparation

After Port Moresby were awarded the rights to host the 2015 games in 2009, preparations had been slow to what was expected by many. In 2011, the PNG pacific games organisers were unsure if the country would stage the games in time. On 26 April 2012, Pacific Games Council president Vidhya Lakhan arrived in Port Moresby to assess the state of preparation for the games. After a week long presentation by the PNG Pacific Games Venue, Infrastructure and Equipment Committee (VIEC), on May 2, on behalf of the Pacific Games council, Lakhan announced that Papua New Guinea will still host the 2015 Pacific Games.

Venues and infrastructure

A total of 14 venues hosted 28 sports at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby.

Competition venues
Venue Sports Capacity
Sir John Guise Stadium
Athletics (track and field),
Rugby 7s and
Rugby league 9s 		15,000
Sir John Guise Sports Complex (outdoor)
Beach Volleyball and

Field Hockey

Sir John Guise Stadium (indoor)
Basketball (finals),
Netball,
Powerlifting and
Weightlifting 		2,000
Port Moresby Racquets Club
Squash and
Tennis 		1,000
Taurama Aquatic Centre
Swimming 		2,000
Taurama Indoor Centre
Basketball (preliminary rounds),
Karate,
Taekwondo and
Volleyball 		2,500
Bisini Sports Complex (outdoor field)
Cricket,
Lawn bowls,
Football (Preliminary rounds),
Softball and
Touch rugby 		10,000
Royal Port Moresby Golf Club
Golf
Ela Beach and PNGDF Naval Base
Va'a and
Triathlon (swimming)
Royal Papua Yacht Club (Fairfax Harbour)
Sailing
Caritas Technical Secondary School Gym
Body building,
Boxing and
Table Tennis 		1,100
June Valley Shooting Range
Shooting 		500
Sir Hubert Murray Stadium
Football (finals) and
Triathlon (finish) 		20,477

Sports Complex

There were two major sporting complexes that played host to many sports. The Sir John Guise complex which hosted nine different sporting codes namely Weightlifting, Powerlifting, Rugby 7s, Rugby league nines, beach volleyball, field hockey, and Athletics. The Bisini sports field was the other sports complex that hosted football, cricket, softball, Touch rugby and lawn bowls.

Medals

Games baton

The 2015 Pacific Games baton was revealed on 23 February, 2015 in Port Moresby. The baton was designed and created by Gickmai Kundun, a well known local artist from the Simbu Province. Shaped as an hourglass, the baton depicts a kundu drum which traditionally is used as a communication tool. It (baton) is made out of one of Papua New Guinea's major resource commodity, copper. Kundun said the purpose of the games baton was to unite the people of Papua New Guinea, and the kundu drum was the perfect fit.[9]

Games baton relay

The 2015 Pacific Games baton relay was officially launched on 25 March 2015 by the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Hon Peter O'Neill in Port Moresby.[10] The journey began on 26 March to officially mark 100 days to go till the opening ceremony. The baton travelled to all 22 cities and towns of the 22 provinces including more than 150 rural villages in the country. On June 20, the baton made a special visit to Cairns, Australia to give a chance to the large Papua New Gunean community to get a first hand glimpse.[11] On 29 June, the baton arrived to the National Capital District (host province) where the relay continued for the last 5 days.[12]

Volunteers

From over 6,000 volunteer applications received by the Chief Executive officer for the 2015 games, only 3,500 of this applicants were carefully screened and handpicked during the recruitment phase. The 3,500 volunteers were then divided into 175 teams that worked throughout the games in key functional areas such as games village operations, transport, technology, logistics and translators etc.

The Games

The official dates of the 2015 Pacific Games were July 4 to 18, however, competitions for Basketball, Football, Table tennis, and Touch rugby began on July 3 (one day earlier).

Sports

Kyle Husslein playing basketball for Guam at the 2015 Pacific Games
Kyle Husslein playing basketball for Guam at the 2015 Pacific Games

There were 28 sports featured at the 2015 Pacific Games.[13]

2015 Pacific Games Sports Programme

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

Participating countries

A total of 24 countries took part in the 2015 Pacific Games. This was with the inclusion of Australia and New Zealand for the first time in the history of the Games. The two countries were invited to participate in four sports; sailing, taekwondo, rugby sevens and weightlifting.

The Pacific Games Council said in July 2014 that the participation of the two countries would improve the quality of competition in the Pacific Games. The inclusion of Australia and New Zealand was on a trial basis, with a review scheduled after the Games to determine its success.

Participating Pacific Games Associations (PGA)

Note: A number in parentheses indicates how many athletes were registered prior to the Games, with that number expected to diminish by the Games' start. Clicking on the number will take you to a page on that nation's delegation to the 2015 Games.

Calendar

The following table provides a summary of the competition schedule.[14]

All dates are Papua New Guinea Time (UTC+10)
OC Opening ceremony ● Event competitions ● Olympic qualifying finals 1 Event finals CC Closing ceremony
July 3
Fri 		4
Sat 		5
Sun 		6
Mon 		7
Tue 		8
Wed 		9
Thu 		10
Fri 		11
Sat 		12
Sun 		13
Mon 		14
Tue 		15
Wed 		16
Thu 		17
Fri 		18
Sat 		Events
Ceremonies OC CC
Athletics 5 11 7 14 9 2 48
Basketball ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Beach volleyball ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Bodybuilding 12 12
Boxing ● ● ● 3 10 13
Cricket ● ● ● ● 1 ● ● ● ● 1 2
Field hockey ● ● ● ● 2 2
Football ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 1 1 2
Golf ● ● ● 4 4
Karate 10 7 17
Lawn bowls ● ● 4 ● ● 4 8
Netball ● ● ● ● ● 1 1
Outrigger canoeing 4 4 2 2 12
Powerlifting ● 15 15
Rugby league nines ● 1 1
Rugby sevens ● ● 2 2
Sailing ● ● ● ● ● 6 6
Shooting 2 2 1 2 1 3 11
Softball ● ● 1 1
Squash ● ● ● 2 ● ● ● 2 ● 2 1 7
Swimming 7 6 7 7 6 7 2 42
Table tennis ● ● ● 2 ● 5 2 2 11
Taekwondo 8 8 2 18
Tennis ● ● ● 2 ● ● ● ● ● 3 2 7
Touch rugby ● ● ● ● 2 ● ● 1 3
Triathlon 3 3
Volleyball ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Weightlifting 12 12 12 9 45
Total events 15 27 26 22 15 29 19 5 27 29 11 28 25 30 299
Cumulative total 15 42 68 90 105 134 153 158 185 205 216 244 269 299
July Fri
3 		Sat
4 		Sun
5 		Mon
6 		Tue
7 		Wed
8 		Thu
9 		Fri
10 		Sat
11 		Sun
12 		Mon
13 		Tue
14 		Wed
15 		Thu
16 		Fri
17 		Sat
18 		Events

Medal table

Host nation Papua New Guinea topped the overall medal table for only the second time ever. It was also the third Pacific Games in history where New Caledonia had failed to finish first.[15]

Key

  Host nation

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Papua New Guinea*886960217
2 New Caledonia605056166
3 French Polynesia393441114
4 Fiji334537115
5 Samoa17231151
6 Australia17191147
7 Nauru710522
8 Solomon Islands761528
9 Tonga71917
10 Cook Islands671528
11 Guam33713
12 Kiribati3159
13 American Samoa3148
14 Micronesia3104
15 Vanuatu281222
16 Norfolk Island2327
17 New Zealand191020
18 Wallis and Futuna1157
19 Tuvalu1034
20 Niue0112
 Palau0112
22 Marshall Islands0055
23 Northern Mariana Islands0000
 Tokelau0000
Totals (24 nations)300293315908

Ceremonies

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Marketing

Tura the Kokomo
Tura the Kokomo

Mascot

The official mascot for the 2015 games, 'Tura the Kokomo', was designed by a 13-year-old boy named Taka Seigori from Tubuseria, a motuan village - located 30 minutes drive from Port Moresby. 'Tura the Kokomo' depicts a modern, cheeky and funny Hornbill - known in Papua New Guinea as a 'Kokomo'. The bird is known to possess the attributes of friendliness and cheekiness. Colours seen on the crown of 'Tura the Kokomo' are the colours of the 2015 Pacific Games logo.[16]

Sponsors

Official Games Sponsor Bank South Pacific (BSP)
Games Baton Relay Sponsor Oil Search
Platinum Sponsors OK Tedi Mining, Telikom PNG, PNG Power, National Gaming Control Board (NGCB), Puma Energy, SP Brewery
Gold Sponsors MRDC, Daltron, Brian Bell Homecentres, Applus Velosi, Fuji Xerox, Air Niugini, Petromin PNG Holdings Limited, Emtek Multimedia, Coca-Cola, Steamships
Silver Sponsors Moore Printing, Hertz, MMI Pacific Insurance
Supporting Sponsor PNG Ports

See also

Notes

^a Athletics: The total of 48 events contested in 2015 included four parasport events: Men's shot put – secured throw, women's shot put – ambulatory, men's javelin – ambulatory, and men's 100m – ambulatory.[17]

^b Boxing: Women's events were included for 2015. The weight classes used by the IOC, i.e. flyweight (48–51 kg), lightweight (57–60 kg), and middleweight (69–75 kg) were added to the schedule.[18] There were ten weight classes for men.[19]

^c Football: Men's tournament had eight teams (including New Zealand) and the women's had seven teams. Both were qualification events for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[20]

^d Karate: The Kumite tournament included six weight divisions for men and five for women. The schedule also included individual and team Kata events for men and women.[21]

^e Men's softball was not able to be included in the program as the sport did not meet the criterion of the Pacific Games charter requiring nominations for the event from at least six countries. Women's softball was included.[22][23]

^f Swimming: The schedule for Taurama Pool included 40 events; 19 for men, 19 for women, and two mixed team relays.[24] The open water swim also included a men's event and a women's event.[25]

^g Table tennis: The total of 11 events contested in 2015 included four parasport events: Men's singles – seated, women's singles – seated, men's singles – ambulatory, and women's singles – ambulatory.[26]

^h Weightlifting: The total of 45 events contested in 2015 was split into 15 weight classes (eight for men and seven for women) with three sets of medals awarded (for the snatch, clean and jerk, and combined total) in each class.[27]

References

  1. ^ "Pacific Games dates set", Post-Courier, 18 April 2012
  2. ^ "Pacific Games 2015". www.businessadvantagepng.com/. Business Advantage PNG. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Australia and New Zealand to participate in Pacific Games". www.abc.net.au. ABC Australia. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Papua New Guinea top final medal standings". www.insidethegames.biz. inside the games. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Tuvalu wins historic first ever Pacific Games gold". www.radionz.co.nz. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Yamasaki claims Australia's first ever Pacific Games medal". www.insidethegames.biz. inside the games. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  7. ^ "New Zealand wins first Pacific Games medal at debut". www.olympic.org.nz. New Zealand Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  8. ^ PNG2015 - Papua New Guinea Wins, published by the Pacific Games Council, on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  9. ^ "Pacific Games baton unveiled". www.emtv.com.pg. Em TV online. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Oil Search Games baton relay launched". news.pngfacts.com/. Papua New Guinea Today. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Games baton visits Cairns". www.looppng.com. Loop PNG. Retrieved 24 June 2015.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Pacific Games baton arrives in nations capital". www.onepng.com. One PNG. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  13. ^ "Sports". Port Moresby 2015. 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  14. ^ "2015 Pacific Games Schedule" (PDF). Port Moresby 2015. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original (PDF 1.0 MB) on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  15. ^ PG Results 2015, p. 3.
  16. ^ "2015 Pacific Games mascot launched". www.thenational.com.pg. The National. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  17. ^ "Program Draft - Pacific Games - John Guise Stadium" (PDF). Papua New Guinea Swimming Inc. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF 0.1 MB) on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Correction to PG 2015 Women Boxers Weight Categories". Sporting Pulse. Oceania Sport Information Centre. 22 February 2014. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  19. ^ "PNG Boxers finalise tune-up for Pacific Games". 2015 Pacific Games. 19 February 2015. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  20. ^ Soccer venues unveiled Archived 2015-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. Fiji Times. 16 May 2015.
  21. ^ Mari, Carl (4 June 2015). "Karate names XV Pacific Games team". PNG Warrior. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Softball dropped for PNG". Solomon Star. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  23. ^ "Men's Softball Competition Out" (Press release). PNG 2015 Pacific Games. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  24. ^ "XV Pacific Games 2015" (PDF 0.2 MB). Papua New Guinea Swimming Inc. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  25. ^ "Pacific Games 2015 Swimming Schedule". Papua New Guinea Swimming Inc. 2015. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  26. ^ "Table Tennis Schedule". Port Moresby 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  27. ^ "Weightlifting Schedule". Port Moresby 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.

Sources

External links

Events at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Countries at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Pacific Games
Categories