The 13th South Pacific Games (), also known as Apia 2007, were held from 25 August to 8 September 2007 in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

disciplines, such as athletics and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, alongside region-specific and smaller events such as

outrigger canoe Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull (watercraft), hull. They can range from small dugout (boat), dugout canoes to large ...

ing,

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

and lawn bowls. The principal venue for the Games was Apia Park, with other events taking place at the Faleata Sporting Complex and at other locations around Samoa. The cost of the games was reported to be

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

92 million and resulted in significant

government debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occu ...

for Samoa due to infrastructure projects which included replacement bridges and roads.

Sports

There were 33 sports contested at this edition of the games:

Opening ceremony

The

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

took place on 25 August 2007 at Apia Park Stadium and was performed in a traditional Samoan and Pacific style, welcoming some 5,000 athletes from 22 nations and territories to Samoa. The ceremony was attended by Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, Prime Minister of Samoa (who also competed in the Games - ''see below''), and Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi, Head of State. Choreographed by Samoan contemporary dancer Alan Aiolupotea the ceremony featured dancing portraying the "mystical legends" from Samoa's island heritage (such as the stories of '' Sina and the Eel'' and '' Nafanua'') with a five-year-old female fire dancer from Siumu Village performing a '' siva afi'' (or fire stick dance) accompanied by a Samoan song depicting the flow of lava following the 1905 eruptions near Savai'i being one of the showcase displays. Former

New Zealand Idol ''New Zealand Idol'', also known as ''NZ Idol'', was the New Zealand version of the ''Idol'' series which originated in the United Kingdom as '' Pop Idol''. New Zealand first saw the ''Idol'' format when TV2 aired '' American Idol 2'', which gar ...

winner Rosita Vai sang an accompaniment to the

torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end which can be used as a light source or to set something on fire. Torches have been used throughout history and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggl ...

lighting of the ceremonial flame by Ofisa Ofisa, a Samoan

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

.''Fire, Dance and Song Bring in the Games''
from ''Samoa2007.ws'' Following a rest day on Sunday, the sporting events of the Games began on Monday, 27 August.

Participation by Samoan Prime Minister

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi competed for his country at the Games in the sport of

target archery Target archery is the most popular form of archery, in which members shoot at stationary circular targets at varying distances. All types of bow – longbow, barebow, Recurve bow, recurve and Compound bow, compound – can be used. In Great Brita ...

. In participating in the Games, the Prime Minister became the first ''elected'' leader to represent his country at a

. Having taken up the sport only 5 months prior to the Games, Tuilaepa was ranked second in Samoa in the ''combined bow'' discipline. The Prime Minister's son was also a reserve team member. On day 10 of the Games, Tuilaepa won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the ''mixed recurve team play'' event.

Logistical problems

Problems with equipment and the lack of multi-sport event infrastructures within the region created difficulties throughout the Games. The

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

was reduced to eight disciplines due to a shortage of equipment. The poles for the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

were still in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

after the ship due to deliver them was delayed by poor weather and the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

was the discipline cancelled to allow the event to comply with

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

regulations (there is no IAAF-sanctioned nine discipline event). In addition, the 1500 metre race was reduced to 1 km. The women's 400-metre hurdles and men's discus were also affected.Athletes feel robbed after decathlon becomes octathlon
from Niu FM, Pacific Radio News 4 September 2007 The lack of funding and facilities for drug testing also restricted the ability of Games authorities to run a full drug testing and anti- doping programme at the Games. Only one hundred athletes (primarily in high-risk events such as

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...

and

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

) were due to be tested as samples needed to be flown overseas from Samoa to be processed at a cost of A$500 per sample.

Fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

due to feature in the Closing Ceremony also remained in Melbourne after difficulties transporting them by ship to Samoa.

Religious controversies

The religious sensitivities of the host nation (which is primarily Congregationalist Christian) and other participants resulted in several controversial decisions during the organisation and running of the Games. Athletes in the women's

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

event were required to wear shorts and T-shirts as opposed to the regulation

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...

-style outfits to avoid offending family members and other spectators. A leaked internal memo by Team Samoa authorities was circulated prior to the event warning Samoan athletes not to engage in

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

intercourse declaring it as "ungodly", stating: "do not embarrass yourself, your family and your country by trying this in the village...Best not to even think about this. It's against the law of God!" Such activity is prohibited under Samoan law and punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. However, the ban on homosexual intercourse was later lifted by organising committee chairman Tapasu Lueng Wai. A campaign to issue athletes

condoms A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condoms, also called male condoms, and internal (female) ...

and advice on

sexually transmitted infection A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, e ...

s also met with resistance from religious leaders. The Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Samoa, Alapati Mataeliga suggested that, in doing so, the authorities were encouraging extra-marital sexual activity which was frowned upon by the church. Games authorities also back-tracked on plans to issue athletes with

female condom A female condom (also known as an internal condom) is a barrier device that is used during sexual intercourse as a barrier contraceptive to reduce the probability of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infection (STI). It is inserted in the vagi ...

s after fears it might "expose young athletes to sex." Male condoms were nevertheless distributed.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony for the Games again took place at Apia Park. Attended by some 20,000 spectators, a twelve-minute fireworks display brought proceedings to an end before hundreds of

balloon A balloon is a flexible membrane bag that can be inflated with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. For special purposes, balloons can be filled with smoke, liquid water, granular media (e.g. sand, flour or rice), ...

s were released in the colours of the Games flag which was itself duly lowered and the ceremonial flame extinguished. The flag was then passed to

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

delegates, supported by a Kanak cultural group, ahead of the 2011 Pacific Games in Noumea.

Venues

A significant amount of the pre-Games expenditure was spent on building new facilities and upgrading those already in existence in Samoa. The majority of the new facilities were sited at the Faleata Sports Complex at Tuana'imato. However, many Samoans feared the size of the complex and other construction would lead to the venues becoming significant

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...

s after the Games were over.
Samoa stays focused on finishing line - Host wants to farewell SPG in style
'' by Peter Rees, IslandsBusiness.com * Aganoa Beach - Surfing * Apia Park Sports Complex ::Gymnasium - Table Tennis and Badminton ::Stadium - Athletics, Rugby Union and Touch Football ::Netball Courts - Netball ::Tennis Courts - Tennis * Fagalii - Royal Samoa Golf Course - Golf *Faleata Sports Complex ::Samoa Aquatic Centre - Swimming ::Archery Field - Archery ::Baseball Field - Baseball ::Beach Volleyball Courts - Beach Volleyball :: Toleafoa S. Blatter Stadium - Soccer ::Cricket ovals - Cricket ::Gymnasium 1 - Boxing, Weightlifting, Body Building ::Gymnasium 2 - Squash and Basketball ::Hockey Fields - Hockey ::Sports Centre - Judo, Taekwondo, Power Lifting, Wrestling ::Lawn Bowls Centre - Lawn Bowls ::Squash Courts - Squash * Samoa Turf Club - Softball *

Marist Stadium The Marist St. Joseph's Stadium is a sports stadium in Lotopa, Samoa. Named after the Marist Brothers who brought rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non- ...

- Rugby League * Mulifanua Water Sports - Va'a (Outrigger) Canoeing; Sailing *Triathlon course - Triathlon * Tafaigata Shooting Range - Shooting * National University of Samoa - Gymnasium - Indoor Volleyball

Medal Table

New Caledonia topped the medal count.

References

Sources

External links

* *
List of South Pacific Games and Mini Games on www.rsssf.com
by Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Oceania Athletics
{{Pacific Games

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continent, continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 South Pacific Games, 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently i ...

2007 in multi-sport events Multi-sport events in Samoa 21st century in Apia Sport in Apia August 2007 sports events in Oceania September 2007 sports events in Oceania