Host city | Pohnpei |
---|---|
Country | Micronesia |
Nations | 10 |
Events | 14 sports |
Opening | July 20, 2014 |
Closing | July 30, 2014 |
The 8th Micronesian Games were held from July 20 to July 30, 2014, in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). [1]
The Games began with an opening ceremony on the track and field grounds. They included "traditional war dances", and the unfurling of the Games flag in the air as it was delivered by parachute. [2]
At the closing of the Games, Guam had topped the medal table with eighty-one medals, of which forty-two were gold. [3]
All Micronesian nations, states and territories participated in the Games. The host country was represented by four teams, one for each of its federated states: Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap. The other participants included four independent countries (Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau) and two unincorporated organised territories of the United States: the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. [1] The 2014 Games were the second hosted by the FSM, the 2002 Games having also taken place in Pohnpei State. [1]
The scheduling of the Games conflicted with the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which began on 23 July. Two Micronesian countries, Kiribati and Nauru, are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and thus had to split their athletes between the two events, both of which they were participating in. (See Kiribati at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and Nauru at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.) [4]
Participants competed in fourteen sports, reportedly a record. [4] The tournament included football, which had also been played in the 1998 edition, [5] with the explicit aim for some of the teams to improve their credentials and gain associate member status with FIFA. [4] At the time of the Games, the only Micronesian country or territory to be a member of FIFA was Guam. [6]
The sports were: athletics, baseball, basketball, football, the "Micronesian all-around", softball, spearfishing, swimming, volleyball, table tennis, tennis, va'a (canoeing), weightlifting, and wrestling. [1]
For results by sport, see:
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
Individual [7] | Clint Madracheluib Palau | Ray Flores Guam | Moy Shmull Palau |
Team [7] | Guam James Borja Mike Cassidy | Palau Clint Madracheluib Moy Shmull | Pohnpei Charles Tom Taylor Paul |
The final medal table was as follows. Only Kiribati failed to obtain any medals. [8]
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Guam | 42 | 27 | 12 | 81 |
2 | Pohnpei | 36 | 41 | 37 | 114 |
3 | Palau | 36 | 31 | 38 | 105 |
4 | Marshall Islands | 34 | 23 | 33 | 90 |
5 | Yap | 17 | 23 | 15 | 55 |
6 | Northern Mariana Islands | 14 | 15 | 5 | 34 |
7 | Kosrae | 4 | 3 | 11 | 18 |
8 | Nauru | 3 | 9 | 5 | 17 |
9 | Chuuk | 3 | 4 | 9 | 16 |
Totals (9 entries) | 189 | 176 | 165 | 530 |
The Federated States of Micronesia, or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania. The federation consists of four states—from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae—that are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,700 mi) just north of the equator. They lie northeast of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 2,900 km (1,800 mi) north of eastern Australia, 3,400 km (2,100 mi) southeast of Japan, and some 4,000 km (2,485 mi) southwest of the main islands of the Hawaiian Islands.
The government of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) conducts its own foreign relations. Since independence in 1986, the FSM has established diplomatic relations with 92 countries, including all of its Pacific neighbors.
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Polynesia to the east, and Melanesia to the south—as well as with the wider community of Austronesian peoples.
Pohnpei is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Major population centers on Pohnpei include Palikir, the FSM's capital, and Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei State. Pohnpei is the largest island in the FSM, with an area of 334 km2 (129 sq mi), and a highest point of 782 m (2,566 ft), the most populous with 36,832 people, and the most developed single island in the FSM.
Yap State is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, located in the westernmost portion of the country. The state borders Palau to the southwest, Guam to the north, and Chuuk State to the east. According to the state's population census carried out in 2020, the total population is 11,577 residing across a total area of 119.54 sq km, though a large majority of the area is water. The only town area in the state, Colonia, serves as the state capital.
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The Federated States of Micronesia Football Association or FSMFA is the governing body of football in the Federated States of Micronesia, and of the national team. They are not a member of FIFA or a regional confederation.
The Micronesian Games are a quadrennial international multi-sport event within the Micronesian region. The Games were first held in 1969 in Saipan. The 2010 Micronesian Games were initially due to be held in Majuro, until the hosts withdrew. The 2010 Games were hosted by Palau. The Federated States of Micronesia won the bidding to host the 2014 Micronesian Games in Pohnpei State, and later won again against CNMI for the 2018 Micronesian Games, held in Yap State.
Micronesian Americans are Americans who are descended from people of the Federated States of Micronesia. According to the 2020 US Census, a total of 21,596 residents self-identified as having origins in the country, which consists of four states. More than half of these residents identified their origin as Chuuk State (12,464) with the rest as follows: 4,918 people from Pohnpei, 2,066 from Yap, and 2,148 people from Kosrae.
The Oceania Table Tennis Federation (OTTF) is a table tennis organization founded on 1 June 1977, recognized by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) as its continental federation in Oceania. Discussions began at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships held in Melbourne, 1975. Seven foundation members were New Zealand, Australia, Guam, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia and Tahiti.
The Federated States of Micronesia Athletic Association (FSMAA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
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Athletics competitions at the 2014 Micronesian Games were held at the Pohnpei Track and Field in Palikir, Pohnpei, between July 21–24, 2014.
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The 1997 South Pacific Mini Games were held at Pago Pago in American Samoa from 11 to 22 August 1997. It was the fifth edition of the South Pacific Mini Games. It was much larger than previous editions, with an almost doubling of the number of medals awarded compared to the 1993 South Pacific Mini Games. The impressive performances by Nauru in weightlifting continued in Pago Pago, with the tiny nation finishing on top of the unofficial medal table after winning 33 gold.
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The 9th Micronesian Games were held from July 15 to July 27, 2018, in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. The venues included the Matson Sports Complex in Abay, and several locations around Colonia.
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