The Island Games (currently known as the NatWest International Island Games for sponsorship reasons) are biennial international multi-sports events organised by the

International Island Games Association The International Island Games Association (IIGA) is the organising body for the Island Games, a friendly biennial multi-sport competition between teams from several European islands and other small territories (24 Members from 7 Nations). The ...

(IIGA). Competitor teams each represent different island communities (with one team from the peninsula of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

) 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 the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, which took place in Gibraltar with around 2,000 competitors from 22 islands or island groups participating in 14 sports. The next games will be hosted by

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, postponed from 2021.

History

The Island Games began in 1985 as the ''Inter-Island Games'', as part of the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, but also encouraged the countries of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, the territories of

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

, the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

and others to participate. Initially, fifteen islands with 600 competitors and officials took part in seven sports, with the total cost of staging the Games being put at £70,000. The

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

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. The Games have grown from strength to strength, with limits now in place for the number of teams, currently 23, and the number of sports at each Games, currently 12 to 14.

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of l ...

could be considered the most successful island, their population of 600 having acquired 20 medals by 2015, one for every 30 people.

NatWest International The Royal Bank of Scotland International, trading under the NatWest International (retail), RBS International (institutional), Coutts Crown Dependencies (wealth management) and Isle of Man Bank brands, is the offshore banking arm of NatWest G ...

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

Guernsey put in a bid for the 2021 Games following the Faroe Islands' withdrawal from hosting. The bid was approved in July 2016. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, 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 Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

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

guaranteed €1,500,000 towards hosting the Games in or before 2029. In August 2018 it was reported that the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

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.

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. 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 ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

and the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

) have competed in their own right at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. 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 The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Medals (1985-2019)

Sports

The host country chooses between 12 and 14 different sports for their games from this list: Notably, the Island Games' football tournament is one of the most well-established tournaments of

non-FIFA international football Non-FIFA international football is the segment of international football that is not overseen by FIFA. FIFA is the international governing body of association football, overseeing football globally and with running international representative mat ...

Olympic athletes

Islanders who have gone on to participate in

events include: *

Mark Cavendish Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Isle of Man, Manx professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a Track cycling, track cyclist he specialises in the Madison (cycling), madison, po ...

(Isle of Man) — cycling (Olympic silver medal winner) *

Cameron Chalmers Cameron Christopher David Chalmers (born 6 February 1997) is a Guernsey born British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. The Guernsey record-holder for the 400 metres, he currently competes for both Guernsey and Great Br ...

(Guernsey) - 4 x 400m - Tokyo 2020 * Dale Garland (Guernsey) - 4 × 400m - Beijing 2008 * Rebecca Heyliger (Bermuda) - swimming *

Pál Joensen Pál Joensen (born 10 December 1990) is a Faroese elite swimmer. He was born in Vágur, Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. He has won World and European Championship medals. His bronze medal in the men's 1500 metre freestyle at the 2012 FINA World Swim ...

(Faroe Islands) — swimming (World Championship bronze medal winner) *

Lee Merrien Lee Merrien (born 26 April 1979) is a British middle distance and long-distance runner. He has been named to the British team for the 2012 Summer Olympics following a Facebook campaign after he was initially not selected to the team. He has w ...

(Guernsey) - Marathon - London 2012 * Cydonie Mothersille (Cayman Islands) — 200m (World Championship bronze medal winner) *

Kelly Sotherton Kelly Jade Sotherton (born 13 November 1976) is a British former heptathlete, long jumper and relay runner. In the heptathlon she was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and, following the disqualification of two other athletes, a ...

(Isle of Wight) — heptathlon and 400m (Olympic bronze medal winner) *

Mattias Sunneborn Mattias Sunneborn (born 27 September 1970 in Bunge, Gotland) is a Sweden, Swedish long jumper. He was an Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump#Finals, Olympic finalist in 1996. He was the 1996 1996 European Athletics Indoor C ...

(Gotland) — long jump and 200m (World Indoor Championship silver medal winner) * Albert Torres (Menorca) — cycling (World Championship gold medal winner)

Notes

References

External links

International Island Games Association

{{International multi-sport events Recurring sporting events established in 1985 Multi-sport events NatWest Group