Team Fiji visits State House, NZ pulls out of Mini Games
Team Fiji contingent to the Pacific Mini Games in Saipan, Northern Marianas, presented their, i-Tatau, to the President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, at the State House yesterday.
About 45 Team Fiji officials and athletes attended as the Pacific Mini Games is from June 17 to 25.
It was reported by Inside the Games, the hosts and Fiji lead the delegations with 125 athletes apiece. Solomon Islands has 117 athletes while New Caledonia has 109. The smallest delegations are Norfolk Island and American Samoa with three each.
The sport with the most athletes entered is athletics (329), followed by outrigger canoe or va’a (182) and weightlifting (131). Other sports are tennis, baseball, badminton, golf, beach volleyball, and triathlon.
NZ out, Australia still in
Meanwhile, New Zealand is not attending the Pacific Mini Games because the country is focusing on the Commonwealth Games, it has been claimed.
According to, Inside the Games, the Kiwis were invited to compete in three sports at the event in the Northern Mariana Islands but have turned down the offer.
Andrew Minogue, the Pacific Games Council (PCC) chief executive, said this was because of the close proximity of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The Birmingham event is scheduled to open on July 28.
“New Zealand is not coming in their three invited sports because they are committed to the Commonwealth Games in the United Kingdom in July,” Mingoue told the Saipan Tribune.
New Zealand were invited to compete in athletics, beach volleyball and weightlifting in Saipan.
Australia, the other regional powerhouse, has taken up its offer to compete. They will send 14 athletes in track and field and five in weightlifting, although beach volleyball has been declined.
“We have very good support from Australia,” Minogue said.