The 2023 Pacific Games, officially known as the XVII Pacific Games and commonly known as Sol 2023 or Honiara 2023, was a

continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...

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 ...

for

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

countries and territories held in

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

between 19 November and 2 December 2023. This was the first time that the Solomon Islands have hosted the

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 ...

. The Games were originally scheduled for 16–29 July 2023. However, in July 2021, the Games organizers requested a date change due to delays in preparation for the games caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Solomon Islands The COVID-19 pandemic in the Solomon Islands is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached the Solomon Islands ...

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 ...

topped the medal table by both total golds (82) and total medals (197), with

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

finishing second by both respects (57 and 160).

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

finished third, setting a record for the most gold medals and total medals ever won by their delegation at a Pacific Games with 50 and 84.

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 ...

finished fourth, with a total of 34 gold and 76 medals.

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

rounded off the top five list with 29 gold medals and third in the overall medal count, with 105 medals. Host nation

won twelve gold medals and 78 medals, its best result at any Pacific Games, finishing in seventh place.

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

won their first ever Pacific Games gold medals, a record five all from weightlifting.

Host selection

Two countries expressed interest and launched bids for the 17th games.

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

, which hosted the event in 1971 and 1995, was the first to express their intentions in hosting the 2023 Games during the Pacific Games Council (PGC) General Assembly in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

in July 2015. The other bidder, the

, in 2016 expressed interest with Prime Minister

Manasseh Sogavare Manasseh Damukana Sogavare (born 17 January 1955) is a Solomon Islander politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2024. He served as the prime minister of Solomon Islands for a total of nine years from 2000–2001, 2006–2007, 2014–2017 ...

launching the country's bid for a potential first time host of the quadrennial event. On 11 May 2016, during the PGC General Assembly in

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

, with the decision taken by the 22 members of the PGC awarded the hosting rights to the Solomon Islands. The margin of victory was reportedly a single vote.

Development and preparation

The 'Pacific Games 2023 Act 2017' created the National Hosting Authority (NHA) as the 2023 Pacific Games Hosting Authority to manage the duties of the committees created by the Act, including the Games Organizing Committee, Games Facilities Committee, and NHA Secretariat. The NHA's responsibility is to oversee the 2023 Pacific Games overall by making sure the Solomon Islands Pacific Games Association and the Government fulfill their obligations under the host contract and by managing the Games' financial planning and budgeting. This strives to ensure vital connection between public services, venues, and building. Additionally, NHA makes sure that the provisions of the Pacific Games 2023 Act (2017) are followed and upheld.

Security

Military and police personal from

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

assisted the

Royal Solomon Islands Police Force The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) is the national police force of Solomon Islands and in January 2015 had an establishment of approximately 1,153 officers and 43 police stations across the country. Solomon Islands has no military o ...

throughout the games.

Venues

The games will take place in 11 venues spread across the host city of

. The 2023 Pacific Games' sport venues are conveniently close to one another and can be reached in 5 to 30 minutes. The following venues have been confirmed: * Aquatic Center (new) – Swimming * DC Park (existing) – Archery, Sailing, Open water swimming, Touch rugby, Va’a/Outrigger canoeing * Friendship Hall (new) – Basketball, Boxing, Netball, Volleyball * HCC Sports Precinct (existing) – Table tennis * Honiara Golf Club (existing) – Golf * King George Hockey Turf (renovated) – Field hockey *

Lawson Tama Stadium Lawson Tama Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Honiara, Solomon Islands. It is used mostly for association football, football matches. The stadium is unique as the stand is built into the hillside so there is no official capacity but no more ...

(existing) – Football * Maranatha Hall (existing) – Bodybuilding, Powerlifting, Weightlifting *

National Stadium (Solomon Islands) The Solomon Islands National Stadium is the national stadium of the Pacific island nation of the Solomon Islands and is located in the capital Honiara. The 10,000-seat venue was originally constructed as the main venue for the 2023 Pacific Game ...

/Main Stadium (new) – Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony, Athletics, Football, Rugby league 9s, Rugby 7s * National Tennis Center (renovated) – Tennis * SIFF Academy (existing) – 3x3 Basketball, Beach volleyball, Karate, Judo ** SIFF Academy (Field 1 & 2) – Football

Participating nations

24 countries and territories participated: the 22 Pacific Games Associations (PGA), and two Associate members - New Zealand, and Australia. * (189) * (75) * (103) * (4) * (592) * (49) * (111) * (8) * (100) * (285) * (46) * (47) * (30) * (92) * (23) * (382) * (112) * (601) (Host) * (223) * (1) * (58) * (81) * (158) * (63)

Sports

As amended in the Pacific Games charter on 14 July 2019, 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, the programme of the Pacific Games shall consist of 17 mandatory sports and 7 optionals who have to reflect the local interests. The following sports are scheduled for the games:

Calendar

The 2023 schedule by session was released by the Games Organizing Committee on 19 June 2023. ''Daily medal events for all sports are yet to be confirmed.''

Medal table

Ceremonies

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2023 Pacific Games took place on Sunday, 19 November 2023, at the Solomon Islands National Stadium in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held on 2 December 2023, in Solomon Islands National Stadium.

Controversies

Doping

In December 2024, the Pacific Games Council confirmed two positive doping tests. Nauru's Mahaasin Daoe failed a doping test and was stripped of a gold medal in the men's 66 kg powerlifting. In the men's shot put, Tahiti's Tumatai Dauphin was stripped from a silver medal after initially placing second. Medals for both events were reallocated respectively.

References

{{Countries at the 2023 Pacific Games Pacific Games by year

2023 in Oceanian sport