1989 South Pacific Mini Games

The 1989 South Pacific Mini Games were held at Nuku'alofa in Tonga from 22 August to 1 September 1989. It was the third edition of the South Pacific Mini Games.^[1]

1989 Pacific Mini Games

Host city	Nuku'alofa
Country	Tonga
Nations	16
Athletes	832
Opening	August 22, 1989 (1989-08-22)
Closing	September 1, 1989 (1989-09-01)
Opened by	King Taufa’ahau Tepou IV
Main venue	Teufaiva Sport Stadium
← 1985 Rarotonga 1993 Port Vila →

Tonga's national stadium, the Teufaiva Sport Stadium, was built for the Games on the previous site of the agricultural showgrounds.^[2] The stadium, new Atele gymnasium, and tennis courts, were built or refurbished with the aid of Taiwan and France.^[1] The venues were eventually completed just in time for the games following some controversy in the preceding months with the construction alarmingly behind schedule.^[3]

Participating countries

Sixteen Pacific nations participated in the Games:^[4]

• American Samoa
• Cook Islands
• Fiji
• French Polynesia, "Tahiti"
• Guam
• Nauru
• New Caledonia
• Niue
• Norfolk Island
• Northern Marianas
• Papua New Guinea
• Solomon Islands
• Tonga
• Vanuatu
• Wallis and Futuna
• Western Samoa

Note: A number in parentheses indicate the size of a country's team (where known).

Sports

The six sports contested at the 1989 South Pacific Mini Games were:^[1]

•  Athletics (40) (details)
•  Boxing (12) ^a
•  Golf (4) ^b

•  Netball (1) ^c
•  Tennis (5)
•  Weightlifting ^d

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

Final medal table

Western Samoa topped the medal count:^[4]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Western Samoa (WSM)	27	6	3	36
2	French Polynesia (PYF)	20	20	20	60
3	New Caledonia (NCL)	15	17	15	47
4	Papua New Guinea (PNG)	14	17	15	46
5	Fiji (FIJ)	5	7	12	24
6	Nauru (NRU)	3	0	0	3
7	Tonga (TON)	2	13	13	28
8	American Samoa (ASA)	2	5	10	17
9	Cook Islands (COK)	2	2	2	6
10	Guam (GUM)	1	1	4	6
11	Vanuatu (VAN)	1	0	2	3
12	Norfolk Island (NFK)	1	0	0	1
13	Solomon Islands (SOL)	0	4	3	7
14	Niue (NIU)	0	0	0	0
	Northern Mariana Islands (MNP)	0	0	0	0
	Wallis and Futuna (WLF)	0	0	0	0
Totals (16 entries)		93	92	99	284

See also

• Athletics at the 1989 South Pacific Mini Games

Notes

^a Western Samoa won six gold medals in the boxing competition that captured the local people's imagination – as reported by Pacific islands Monthly, "it seemed half of Nuku'alof was crammed into the indoor stadium".^[5]

^b Golf: Fiji, captained by Adi Sainimili Tuivanuavou, won the women's team bronze at the 1989 South Pacific Mini Games.^[6]

^c Netball: Cook Islands won the competition, defeating PNG by 53–49 in the final. Fiji did not play in the tournament.^[7]

^d Nauru's 18-year-old Marcus Stephens broke all three South Pacific Games records in the 60 kg weightlifting class.^[8]