History
The ‘Mini Olympics’
In 1985 the Isle of Man set in motion an exciting and ambitious plan to bring together athletes from small islands across the world to take part in a new sporting festival — the ‘Inter-Island Games’.
700 sportsmen and -women from 15 islands landed on Manx soil for what the UK national press dubbed the ‘Small Islands Mini Olympics’. Competitors hailed from the Faroe Islands and Scandinavia in the northern hemisphere, the British Isles, the Mediterranean and as far afield as St Helena in the South Atlantic—a 5,000-mile trip.
After a week of events in eight different sports the festival was deemed such a success it was agreed to continue it every other year, with the second Games to be held in Guernsey in 1987.
Growth of the Games
Over the next 12 years the Games travelled to the Faroe Islands, Áland, the Isle of Wight, Gibraltar and Jersey, where the number of competitors reached 2,000.
Many more islands expressed a desire to join the Games Family, and representatives of a wide variety of sports lobbied for inclusion.
As enthusiasm for the Games grew, the event became hugely important to the islands’ sporting communities. The possibility of being chosen to represent their home island in the Games became a strong motivator for young athletes to train hard and fulfil their potential.
The islands’ goverments also began to realise what a positive impact sport could have on a small community; promoting a healthy lifestyle, providing a focus for young people and strengthening a nation’s cultural identity.
The Island Games – bringing islands together.
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| Venue | Number of sports | Number of Islands | Number of Competitors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 Isle of Man | 7 | 15 | 700 | |
| 1987 Guernsey | 9 | 18 | 1049 | |
| 1989 Faroe Islands | 11 | 15 | 800 | |
| 1991 Aland | 13 | 17 | 1500 | |
| 1993 Isle of Wight | 14 | 19 | 1448 | |
| 1995 Gibraltar | 14 | 18 | 1214 | |
| 1997 Jersey | 14 | 20 | 2000 | |
| 1999 Gotland | 14 | 22 | 1858 | |
| 2001 Isle of Man | 14 | 22 | 2020 | |
| 2003 Guernsey | 14 | 23 | 2129 | |
| 2005 Shetland | 14 | 24 | 1658 | |
| 2007 Rhodes | 14 | 25 | 2343 | |
| 2009 Aland | 14 | 25 | 2286 | |
| 2011 Isle of Wight | 14 | 24 | 2311 | |
| 2013 Bermuda | 14 | 24 |
1296 |
|
| 2015 Jersey | 14 | 24 | 2430 | |
| 2017 Gotland | 14 | 23 | 2333 | |
| 2019 Gibraltar | 14 | 22 | 1624 | |
| 2023 Guernsey | 14 | 24 | 2082 |
