Island Games
The International Island Games Association (IGA) is an organisation whose purpose is to organise the Island Games, a friendly biennial athletic competition between teams from several European islands and other small territories.
History
The Island Games began in 1985 as the Inter-Island Games, as part of the Isle of Man International Year of Sport, and were intended to be a one-off sporting celebration only. Geoffrey Corlett, who became the first Games Director, not only contacted the islands surrounding the United Kingdom, but also encouraged the countries of Iceland and Malta, the territories of Faroe Islands, Greenland, Saint Helena and Channel Islands; and others to participate. Initially, fifteen islands with 600 competitors and officials took part in seven sports, with the total cost of staging the Games being put at £70,000. The track and field events were held on an eight-lane grass track, a far cry from the current games, which now use a synthetic track in a stadium capable of holding 10,000 spectators. So successful were the Games of 1985 that it was decided to hold a similar event two years later.
Members
The IGA was founded in the Isle of Man in 1985. Constituents come from islands in, or associated with, nine sovereign states (Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).
Current members of the IGA are:
Åland | Alderney | Anglesey | Bermuda | Cayman Islands |
Falkland Islands | Faroe Islands | Frøya | Gibraltar | Gotland |
Greenland | Guernsey | Hitra | Isle of Man | Isle of Wight |
Jersey | Minorca | Orkney Islands | Prince Edward Island | Rhodes |
Saaremaa | Saint Helena | Sark | Shetland Islands | Western Isles |
Gibraltar is the only member of the IGA that is not an island or group of islands as it is a peninsula of Iberia, sharing a land border with Spain. Anglesey, Hitra, and Prince Edward Island have bridge or tunnel connections to their mainland. Greenland is by far the largest island, and is bigger than all the rest combined, but very sparsely populated.
Game venues
Year | Games | Host Island | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1985 | I | Isle of Man | British crown dependency |
1987 | II | Guernsey | British crown dependency |
1989 | III | Faroe Islands | Danish autonomous province |
1991 | IV | Åland | Finnish autonomous province |
1993 | V | Isle of Wight | English county |
1995 | VI | Gibraltar | British overseas territory |
1997 | VII | Jersey | British crown dependency |
1999 | VIII | Gotland | Swedish county |
2001 | IX | Isle of Man | British crown dependency |
2003 | X | Guernsey | British crown dependency |
2005 | XI | Shetland | Scottish county |
2007 | XII | Rhodes | Greek island |
2009 | XIII | Åland | Finnish autonomous province |
2011 | XIV | Isle of Wight | English county |
2013 | XV | Bermuda | British overseas territory |
2015 | XVI | Jersey | British crown dependency |
Sports
The host country chooses between 12 and 14 different sports for their games from this list:
Archery | Athletics | Badminton | Basketball | Bowls | Cycling |
Football | Golf | Gymnastics | Judo | Sailing | Shooting |
Squash | Swimming | Table Tennis | Tennis | Triathlon | Volleyball |
Medals table
Including medals won in the 2009 edition
Pos | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
1 | Jersey | 396 | 377 | 357 | 1130 |
2 | Isle of Man | 317 | 311 | 333 | 961 |
3 | Guernsey | 294 | 308 | 338 | 940 |
4 | Gotland | 199 | 161 | 149 | 509 |
5 | Faroe Islands | 142 | 135 | 168 | 445 |
6 | Åland | 139 | 153 | 121 | 413 |
7 | Isle of Wight} | 133 | 123 | 161 | 417 |
8 | Cayman Islands} | 57 | 37 | 41 | 135 |
9 | Saaremaa | 56 | 67 | 64 | 187 |
10 | Bermuda | 53 | 49 | 54 | 156 |
11 | Iceland | 50 | 45 | 41 | 136 |
12 | Rhodes | 50 | 42 | 42 | 134 |
13 | Gibraltar | 38 | 43 | 69 | 150 |
14 | Shetland Islands | 30 | 48 | 77 | 155 |
15 | Minorca | 20 | 17 | 21 | 58 |
16 | Orkney | 18 | 29 | 36 | 83 |
17 | Anglesey | 17 | 28 | 38 | 83 |
18 | Greenland | 15 | 18 | 25 | 58 |
19 | Prince Edward Island | 6 | 6 | 9 | 21 |
20 | Malta | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
21 | Western Isles | 2 | 4 | 11 | 17 |
22 | Sark | 1 | 7 | 5 | 13 |
23 | Falkland Islands | 1 | 5 | 11 | 17 |
24 | Hitra | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
25 | Frøya | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
26 | Alderney | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
27 | Saint Helena | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
From 2001, competitors from islands with a population of less than 10,000 (Alderney, Falklands, Frøya, Hitra, St. Helena and Sark), also compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze 'Small Island Certificates', with restrictions that Silver is only awarded if at least 3 compete, and Bronze only if at least 4 compete.