Island Games

The Island Games (currently known as the NatWest International Island Games for sponsorship reasons) are biannual international multi-sports events organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). Competitor teams each represent different island communities (with one team from the peninsula of Gibraltar) which are IIGA members. Currently all competitor teams represent non-sovereign territories of European nations—some within European waters and some further overseas.

The most recent edition was 2019 which took place in Gibraltar, with around 2,000 competitors from 22 competing islands or island groups competing in 14 sports. The next games will be hosted by Guernsey in 2023, postponed from 2021.

Åland

Alderney Guernsey Sark
Jersey

Faroe Islands

Frøya

Gibraltar

Gotland

Hitra

Isle of Man

Isle of Wight

Menorca

Orkney

Saaremaa

Shetland

Western Isles

Ynys Môn

Greenland

Bermuda

Cayman Islands

Saint Helena

Falkland Islands

Locations of Island Games teams

History[]

The Island Games began in 1985 as the Inter-Island Games, as part of the Isle of Man International Year of Sport, and were intended to be a one-off sporting celebration only. Geoffrey Corlett, who became the first Games Director, not only contacted the islands surrounding the United Kingdom, but also encouraged the countries of Iceland and Malta, the territories of Faroe Islands, Greenland, Saint Helena, the Channel Islands and others to participate.

Initially, fifteen islands with 600 competitors and officials took part in seven sports,^[1] with the total cost of staging the Games being put at £70,000. The track and field events were held on an eight-lane grass track, a far cry from the current games, which now use synthetic tracks in stadiums capable of holding thousands of spectators. The Games of 1985 were so successful that organisers decided to hold a similar event two years later.^[2] The games have grown from strength to strength with limits now in place over the number of teams, currently 23 and the number of sports at each games, currently 12–14. Sark could be considered the most successful island, their population of 600 having acquired 20 medals by 2015, one for every 30 people.

NatWest International has been the main sponsor of the games since 1999. In April 2018, they signed a deal extending their sponsorship until at least 2021.

Game venues[]

Faroese stamp to the 1989 Island Games: Rowing

Football

Year	Games	Host Island	Participating Islands	Athletes	Sports
1985	I	Isle of Man	15	700	7
1987	II	Guernsey	18	1,049	9
1989	III	Faroe Islands	15	800	11
1991	IV	Åland	17	1,500	13
1993	V	Isle of Wight	19	1,448	14
1995	VI	Gibraltar	18	1,214	13
1997	VII	Jersey	20	~2,000	13
1999	VIII	Gotland	22	1,858	14
2001	IX	Isle of Man	22	2,020	15
2003	X	Guernsey	23	2,129	15
2005	XI	Shetland	24	1,658	14
2007	XII	Rhodes[3]	25	2,343	14
2009	XIII	Åland	24	2,286	14
2011	XIV	Isle of Wight	24	2,311	14
2013	XV	Bermuda	22	1,296	14
2015	XVI	Jersey	24	2,430	14
2017	XVII	Gotland	23	2,333	14[4]
2019	XVIII	Gibraltar[5][6][7]	22	1,700	14[8]
2021	Postponed due to COVID-19 Pandemic[9][10]
2023	XIX	Guernsey[11][12]	23	~3,000	14
2025		Orkney[13][12]			13
2027		Ynys Môn[14][12]
2029		Isle of Man[12]

Guernsey put in a bid for the 2021 Games following the Faroe Islands' withdrawal from hosting.^[15] The bid was approved in July 2016. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Games were cancelled and rescheduled for 2023 with Guernsey still as hosts, with future hosts pushed out by two years as well.

Orkney will host the 2025 Games. They were awarded the right to host on 7 July 2018 at the AGM in Gibraltar.

In May 2018, the Parliament of the Faroe Islands guaranteed €1,500,000 towards hosting the Games in or before 2029.^[16]

In August 2018 it was reported that the Falkland Islands are considering hosting the Games in 2033, and "the Island Games Executive is planning to visit the Falklands in 2020 for their Spring Meeting" to discuss the proposition.^[17]

Participation[]

A total of 27 islands, island groups or territories have participated in the Island Games; eleven of these have participated in every Island Games.

Island Games participants and total medals won

Island(s)	Country and status	Population	Years	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Åland	Finnish autonomous province	28,666	1985–	187	196	184.5	567.5
Alderney	Part of a British crown dependency	1,900	1987, 1993–	0	2	3	5
Bermuda	British overseas territory	64,200	2003–	105	113	113	331
Cayman Islands	British overseas territory	56,700	1999–	128	103	82	313
Falkland Islands	British overseas territory	2,900	1993–	1	9	12	22
Faroe Islands	Autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark	49,700	1985–	252	234	275	761
Frøya	Norwegian municipality island	4,300	1985–	1	1	2	4
Gibraltar	British overseas territory	30,000	1987–	74.5	83.5	109	267
Gotland	Swedish county	57,200	1985–	325.5	240.5	244	810
Greenland	Autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark	56,000	1989–	22	30	35.5	87.5
Guernsey	British crown dependency	65,800	1985–	482	500	492	1474
Hitra	Norwegian municipality island	4,250	1985–1989, 1997–	4	9	10	22
Isle of Man	British crown dependency	84,500	1985–	510	479	433.5	1422.5
Isle of Wight	English county  United Kingdom	138,400	1985–	188	183	212	583
Jersey	British crown dependency	105,500	1985–	593	584	516.3	1693.3
Menorca	Spanish island	94,400	2007–	50	49	67	166
Orkney Islands	Scottish council area  United Kingdom	21,300	1985–	23	40	43	106
Saaremaa	Estonian island - county	31,000	1991–	116	121	98.5	335.5
Saint Helena	British overseas territory	4,250	1985–1987, 1997–	3	3	5	11
Sark	Part of a British crown dependency	600	1987–2011, 2015–	3	16	7	26
Shetland Islands	Scottish council area  United Kingdom	23,200	1985–	62	80	109	251
Western Isles Na h-Eileanan an Iar	Scottish council area  United Kingdom	27,400	2005–	28	22	26	76
Ynys Môn	Welsh principal area  United Kingdom	69,700	1985–	37	35	52	124
Iceland	Iceland	329,000	1985–1997	50	45	41	136
Malta	Malta	445,000	1985–1987	6	2	2	10
Prince Edward Island	Canadian province	140,000	1991–2007	6	6	9	21
Rhodes	Greek island - a separate municipality	115,500	1999–2011, 2015	53	52	45	150

Islands marked in grey are no longer members of the IIGA and so cannot compete at the Island Games.

Of the 23 current IIGA members, two (Bermuda and the Cayman Islands) have competed in their own right at the Olympic Games. Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey and St. Helena have each sent teams to the Commonwealth Games.

Sports[]

The host country chooses between 12 and 14 different sports for their games from this list:

Sport	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	XIII	XIV	XV	XVI	Total		XVII	XVIII
Archery		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	14		Y
Athletics	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	16		Y	Y
Badminton	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	15		Y	Y
Basketball								Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8		Y	Y
Bowls (Indoor‡, Outdoor, or Ten Pin*)		Y‡						Y*			Y‡						3			Y*
Cycling	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	15		Y	Y
Football	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	15		Y
Golf				Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12		Y
Gymnastics			Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y		Y		Y		10		Y	Y
Judo			Y	Y	Y	Y						Y	Y				6			Y
Sailing (may include Sailboarding*)					Y*	Y*	Y*	Y	Y	Y*	Y*	Y*	Y*	Y*	Y*	Y*	12
Shooting	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	16		Y	Y
Squash											Y			Y	Y		3			Y
Swimming	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	16		Y	Y
Table Tennis		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	14		Y	Y
Tennis				Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12		Y	Y
Triathlon									Y	Y		Y			Y	Y	5		Y	Y
Volleyball (may include Beach Volleyball*)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y*	Y	Y	Y*	Y*	16		Y*	Y*
Total sports	7	9	11	13	14	13	13	14	15	15	14	14	14	14	14	14			14	14

Notably, the Island Games' football tournament is one of the most well-established tournaments of non-FIFA international football.

Olympic athletes[]

Islanders who have gone on to participate in Olympic Games events include:

• Mark Cavendish (Isle of Man) — cycling (Olympic silver medal winner)
• Cameron Chalmers (Guernsey) - 4 x 400m - Tokyo 2020
• Dale Garland (Guernsey) - 4 × 400m - Beijing 2008
• Rebecca Heyliger (Bermuda) - swimming
• Pál Joensen (Faroe Islands) — swimming (World Championship bronze medal winner)
• Lee Merrien (Guernsey) - Marathon - London 2012
• Cydonie Mothersille (Cayman Islands) — 200m (World Championship bronze medal winner)
• Kelly Sotherton (Isle of Wight) — heptathlon and 400m (Olympic bronze medal winner)
• Mattias Sunneborn (Gotland) — long jump and 200m (World Indoor Championship silver medal winner)
• Albert Torres (Menorca) — cycling^[18] (World Championship gold medal winner)

Footnotes[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Island Games.

• International Island Games Association
• Previous Results in Island Games