 | |
| Host city | Papeete |
|---|---|
| Country | Tahiti |
| Nations | 14 |
| Athletes | ~2,000 |
| Events | 17 sports |
| Opening | August 25, 1971 |
| Closing | September 5, 1971 |
| Opened by | Pierre Messmer |
The 1971 South Pacific Games, held at Papeete in Tahiti from 25 August to 5 September 1971, was the fourth edition of the South Pacific Games. [1]
Approximately 1,500 male athletes and 500 female athletes participated in the games. [2]
Fourteen Pacific nations or territories competed at the Games: [2]
There were 17 sports contested at the 1971 South Pacific Games: [4] [2]
Archery (2)
Athletics (35) ()
Basketball (2) ()
Boxing (11)
Cycling (6) a 
Football (1) ()
Golf (2)
Judo (6)
Rugby union (1) ()
Sailing (1) b 
Softball (1) c 
Swimming (1)
Table tennis (7)
Tennis (7)
Underwater fishing (2)
Volleyball (2)
Weightlifting (8)Medals were awarded in 117 events:
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  New Caledonia (NCL) | 33 | 32 | 27 | 92 |
| 2 |  Papua New Guinea (PNG) | 28 | 28 | 21 | 77 |
| 3 |  French Polynesia (PYF) | 22 | 24 | 24 | 70 |
| 4 |  Fiji (FIJ) | 16 | 17 | 13 | 46 |
| 5 |  Western Samoa (WSM) | 9 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| 6 |  Tonga (TON) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 7 |  Guam (GUM) | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
| 8 | Wallis and Futuna (WLF) | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| 9 |  Solomon Islands (SOL) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 10 |  American Samoa (ASA) | 0 | 2 | 12 | 14 |
| 11 |  Cook Islands (COK) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 12 |  New Hebrides | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| – |  Gilbert and Ellice Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| – |  Nauru (NRU) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals (12 entries) | 117 | 117 | 125 | 359 | |
^a Cycling: Six events were held: 1 km time trial, individual road race (111 km), 74 km road race, 4 km individual pursuit, 4 km Olympic pursuit, and an individual sprint. [5]
^b The sailing event was for the Fireball dinghy class. [6]
^c The women's softball tournament was won by Guam, with Papua New Guinea and American Samoa taking second and third place respectively, [5] although the Oceania Sport Information Centre report (on their Sporting Pulse webpage as at October 2015) omits the result. [4]
The Pacific Games, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were called the South Pacific Games from 1963 to 2007. The Pacific Games Council (PGC) organises the Games and oversees the host city's preparations. Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams. In each sporting event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third place.
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