Mini Games

On 24 March, World Athletics announced new regulations that would completely bar transgender male-to-female athletes from participating in its competitions.

The governing body also announced stricter restrictions on athletes with DSD which is expected to impact champion Olympic athletes.

"Our position is quite simple," council president Vidya Lakhan told RNZ Pacific.

"So, we are always guided by the respective international federations.

Because of the damage wrought by Super Typoon Yutu last October, the CNMI wanted to pull out of staging the event.

But executive members of the Pacific Games council have just visited the country to try to salvage the tournament.

They've given the CNMI the choice of a contracted games from 12 to six sports.

The cost would also decrease from eight to $US3 million.

Council president Vidhya Lakhan and chief executive Andrew Minogue met with CNMI Governor Ralph Torres and Lieutenant Governor Arnold Palacios this week to discuss the options.

Among the outstanding stars at the Vanuatu Games is 17-year-old Samoan weightlifter Fegaiga Stowers, who set a new Commonwealth record in the women's 90kg class by lifting 108kg in the snatch, 131kg in the clean-and-jerk for a 239 kg total.

Papua New Guinea's Stephen Kari secured all three gold medals in the men's 93kg category by lifting 155kg in the snatch and 195kg in the clean-and-jerk.

International weightlifting referee Lilly Coffa, a trainer at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in New Caledonia, says the athletes are ready for the Commonwealth Games.

On Thursday afternoon, the Men’s 1500m saw Fiji finish first with Petero Veitaqomaki getting the gold, in front of Papua New Guinea’s Martin Orovo and Vanuatu’s Samson Laus.

Veitaqomaki was excited with his first gold medal win.

“I am excited for my performance. It is my first time to win gold in this kind of event in the Pacific.”

In the Women’s 1500m race, Papua New Guinea won both gold and silver through the efforts of Poro Gahekave and Jenny Albert respectively, with Guam taking bronze and in doing so collecting its first medal of the Games.

The New Zealand territory, which has a local population of just 1500, only sent one athlete to the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea and had initially planned to send nobody to the Mini Games in Vanuatu.

But Ilai Elekana Manu, who has won eight Oceania medals representing Tokelau in wrestling, said he had a chance encounter with Pacific Games Council CEO Andrew Minogue at an ONOC (Oceania National Olympic Committees) meeting earlier this year, which motivated him to try and put together a team.

Les Cagous added six more gold medals to their tally on Saturday to take their total haul to 24.

The French territory won a further three gold medals in karate, the women's doubles in table tennis and the men's and women's individual titles in golf.

Fiji has leapfrogged Papua New Guinea and Samoa into second place with 15 gold medals after winning four para titles in table tennis.

PNG have been joined on 14 gold medals by Samoa, who beat Fiji to retain their rugby sevens title.

The French territory has 18 gold medals in all, after winning seven of the eight events on the first day of karate.

Les Cagous added seven gold medals in karate to the 10 they scooped up in judo.

The only break in their dominance came from Vanuatu's Vamule Lango, who won gold in the female kumite 61kg division.

New Caledonia picked up another gold medal in tennis, edging Solomon Islands 2-1 in the final of the women's team event.

The showpiece of the night was a tough match between front-runners Vanuatu and Fiji that ended 0-0.

Vanuatu had been looking to build on their 5-0 opening win over Solomon Islands, while Fiji had recorded the same score over Tonga in their opener.

However this match proved a far closer contest. Both teams were very strong and had several chances.

The crowd cheered wildly with Fiji, as well as the home side, drawing strong support.

In the earlier match, Tonga defeated Solomon Islands 3-1 to the delight of Tonga’s excitable fans.

The withdrawal was announced by the director of French Polynesia's youth and sport service Anthony Pheu at the weekend and follows a disagreement over who should represent Tahiti's boxers.

Mr Nena's Tahiti Boxing Association is recognised by the international boxing federation while the government-backed federation is not.

He said that gives them the right to attend the Mini Games in Vanuatu and he's confident they won't be the only ones.

Council President Vidhya Lakhan and CEO Andrew Minogue attended a joint meeting of the Van2017 Pacific Mini Games Authority, chaired by the Minister of Sport, Seule Simeon, and the Games Organising Committee, where the final Games delivery plans and arrangements were approved.

Mr Lakhan also received a briefing from Van2017 CEO Clint Flood.

He was very pleased with the state of preparations and said all stakeholders have worked together to deliver the sporting venues and operational plans on schedule.