2015 Pacific Games

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.

XV Pacific Games
Official logo of the Games
Host cityPort Moresby
CountryPapua New Guinea
Nations24
Athletes3,796
Events299 in 28 sports
Opening4 July 2015
Closing18 July 2015
Opened byPrince Andrew, Duke of York
Athlete's OathDeslyn Siniu
Judge's OathSusan Babao
Torch lighterDika Toua
Main venueSir John Guise Stadium

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 Pacific Island countries expressed interests in hosting the fifteenth edition of the games as soon as the bidding process began. They were American Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. By March 2009, only three were serious bidders – Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tonga.[8] On 20 September 2009, the Solomon Islands National Olympic Committee President – Fred Maetoloa, in a press statement announced the withdrawal of the Solomons bid following the withdrawal of the Solomon Island government's commitment and support.[9]

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.[10]

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

Development and preparation

Preparations for the Games, which Port Moresby was given the honor of hosting in 2009, have taken longer than many had anticipated. The country's ability to host the event in time was uncertain in 2011, according to the PNG Pacific Games organizers. To evaluate the level of the games' preparation, Pacific Games Council President Vidhya Lakhan traveled to Port Moresby on April 26, 2012. On May 2, Lakhan made the announcement that Papua New Guinea will continue to serve as the 2015 Pacific Games host after a week-long presentation by the PNG Pacific Games Venue, Infrastructure and Equipment Committee (VIEC).

Venues and infrastructure

A total of 14 venues hosted 28 sports in Port Moresby.

Competition venues
Venue Sports Capacity
Sir John Guise Stadium Pictogram.Athletics (track and field)
Pictogram.Rugby sevens
Pictogram.Rugby league nines		 15,000
Sir John Guise Sports Complex (outdoor) Pictogram.Beach Volleyball
Pictogram. Field Hockey
Sir John Guise Stadium (indoor) Pictogram.Basketball (finals)
Pictogram.Netball
Pictogram.Powerlifting
Pictogram.Weightlifting		 2,000
Port Moresby Racquets Club Pictogram.Squash
Pictogram.Tennis		 1,000
Taurama Aquatic Centre Pictogram.Swimming 2,000
Taurama Indoor Centre Pictogram.Basketball (preliminary rounds)
Pictogram.Karate
Pictogram.Taekwondo
Pictogram.Volleyball		 2,500
Bisini Sports Complex (outdoor field) Pictogram.Cricket
Pictogram.Lawn bowls
Pictogram.Football (Preliminary rounds)
Pictogram.Softball
Pictogram.Touch rugby		 10,000
Royal Port Moresby Golf Club Pictogram.Golf
Ela Beach and PNGDF Naval Base Pictogram.Va'a
Pictogram.Triathlon (swimming)
Royal Papua Yacht Club (Fairfax Harbour) Pictogram.Sailing
Caritas Technical Secondary School Gym Pictogram.Body building
Pictogram.Boxing
Pictogram.Table Tennis		 1,100
June Valley Shooting Range Pictogram.Shooting 500
Sir Hubert Murray Stadium Pictogram.Football (finals)
Pictogram.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.

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.[11]

Games baton relay

On 25 March 2015, in Port Moresby, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Hon. Peter O'Neill formally launched the Games baton relay.[12] The journey started on March 26 to officially celebrate exactly 100 days till the opening ceremony. Over 150 remote villages, as well as all 22 cities and towns in the 22 provinces, were visited by the baton's tour. The baton paid a special visit to Cairns, Australia, on June 20 to give the sizable Papua New Guinean community a chance to see it firsthand.[13] The relay proceeded for the following five days when the baton landed in the National Capital District (the host province) on June 29.[14]

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

There were 28 sports featured at the 2015 Pacific Games.[15]

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.[16]

All dates are Papua New Guinea Time (UTC+10)
OCOpening ceremony ●Event competitions ●Olympic qualifying finals 1Event finals CCClosing 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
CeremoniesOCCC
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 events152726221529195272911282530 299
Cumulative total15426890105134153158185205216244269299
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.[17]

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 entries)300293315908

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, between 18:00 and 22:00 (GMT+10), on 4 July 2015. The Head of the Commonwealth and Queen of Papua New Guinea, Queen Elizabeth II, was represented by her son, Prince Andrew, Duke of York.[18] Airleke Ingram was its artistic director, with executive producer being Merryn Hughes from the Makoda Productions. Live musical performers included Jamie-Lee Chan, Jagarizzar, with Ngaire Joseph, and duo group Twin Tribe who performed Winds of Change as the closing act. A special performance by Sir George Telek and a medley from Papua New Guinea's all-time music greats - the Paramana Strangers, Pati Potts Doi, and Tom Larry.

Parade of nations

As per games tradition, each PGA paraded into the arena for the opening ceremony with each delegation being led by a flag bearer from their respective teams. Following tradition, the host of the previous games, New Caledonia, enters first followed by the rest of the participating PGA's in alphabetical order. The host nation of Papua New Guinea enters last. Each nation was preceded by a placard bearer carrying a sign with the country's name.

Below is a list of parading countries and their announced flag bearer, in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name, or flag bearer's sport.

Order Nation Flag bearer Sport
1New Caledonia New Caledonia
2American Samoa American Samoa
3Australia AustraliaNicole BeckRugby sevens
4Cook Islands Cook IslandsTereapii TapokiAthletics
5Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of MicronesiaManuel MinginfelWeightlifting
6Fiji FijiApolonia VaivaiWeightlifting
7Guam GuamJagger StephensSwimming
8Kiribati KiribatiDavid KatoataoWeightlifting
9Marshall Islands Marshall Islands
10Nauru NauruItte DetenamoWeightlifting
11New Zealand New Zealand
12Niue Niue
13Norfolk Island Norfolk IslandKevin CoulterShooting
14Northern Mariana Islands Northern Mariana Islands
15Palau PalauStevick PatrisWeightlifting
16Samoa SamoaEle OpelogeWeightlifting
17Solomon Islands Solomon IslandsJenly Tegu WiniWeightlifting
18French Polynesia Tahiti
19Tokelau TokelauVolunteern/a
20Tonga Tonga
21Tuvalu Tuvalu
22Vanuatu Vanuatu
23Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna
24Papua New Guinea Papua New GuineaLinda PulsanPowerlifting

Marketing
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.[19]

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.[20]

^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.[21] There were ten weight classes for men.[22]

^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.[23]

^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.[24]

^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.[25][26]

^f Swimming: The schedule for Taurama Pool included 40 events; 19 for men, 19 for women, and two mixed team relays.[27] The open water swim also included a men's event and a women's event.[28]

^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.[29]

^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.[30]

References
  1. "Pacific Games dates set", Post-Courier, 18 April 2012
  2. "Pacific Games 2015". www.businessadvantagepng.com/. Business Advantage PNG. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. 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. "2015 Pacific Games bids face strict requirements". www.fijivillage.com. Fiji Village. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  9. "SI pulls out of 2015 games bid". www.thenational.com.pg. Fiji Village. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  10. PNG2015 - Papua New Guinea Wins, published by the Pacific Games Council, on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  11. "Pacific Games baton unveiled". www.emtv.com.pg. Em TV online. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  12. "Oil Search Games baton relay launched". news.pngfacts.com/. Papua New Guinea Today. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  13. "Games baton visits Cairns". www.looppng.com. Loop PNG. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  14. "Pacific Games baton arrives in nations capital". www.onepng.com. One PNG. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  15. "Sports". Port Moresby 2015. 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  16. "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.
  17. PG Results 2015, p. 3.
  18. "Prince Andrew to Open 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby". pngfacts.com. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  19. "2015 Pacific Games mascot launched". www.thenational.com.pg. The National. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  20. "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.
  21. "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.
  22. "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.
  23. Soccer venues unveiled Archived 2015-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. Fiji Times. 16 May 2015.
  24. 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.
  25. "Softball dropped for PNG". Solomon Star. 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  26. "Men's Softball Competition Out" (Press release). PNG 2015 Pacific Games. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  27. "XV Pacific Games 2015" (PDF 0.2 MB). Papua New Guinea Swimming Inc. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  28. "Pacific Games 2015 Swimming Schedule". Papua New Guinea Swimming Inc. 2015. Archived from the original on 10 January 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  29. "Table Tennis Schedule". Port Moresby 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  30. "Weightlifting Schedule". Port Moresby 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.

Sources
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