Rain, records and rivalries: Highlights from the Mini Games

The 2025 Pacific Mini Games taking place in Palau saw a packed pool and rising competition on Day Three, amid the looming threat of bad weather.

The Games officially opened on Sunday in Koror and will run until 9 July. More than 2000 athletes from 20 Pacific nations and territories are competing in various sports, including va’a, volleyball, judo and athletics.

Speaking with Latonya Lole on Pacific Mornings, correspondent James Nokise says athletes have praised the venue upgrades, despite some of them having to sleep in bunk beds or on inflatable mattresses.

“But all in all, the living facilities are very top shelf,” Nokise says. “A lot of athletes have been on social media posting videos of themselves sharing meals. That’s really helped in terms of building the sense of community between the athletes from different countries, as well as the way that they're all just together, waiting to compete at the events.

“Whether you're at va’a or at swimming, there's no walls. Everyone is just sitting to the side in their own sections. They put up their flags, they put up their towels, and they're all cheering each other on.

“Even when there's the height of competitiveness happening, there's a camaraderie amongst the athletes.” Nokise says that the Games are an opportunity for athletes to excel without undermining others.

This sentiment was echoed by Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr, who honourably credited weightlifter David Liti, for helping his injured Sāmoan competitor, La Titi Louie, onto the podium at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia. “I've seen a lot of athletes congratulating each other, bigging up each other, supporting each other, even if they're not from the same country,” Nokise says.

Light rain has affected outdoor sports like softball and baseball, causing some delays. Although such weather can be managed, Nokise says that “monsoon-level downpours” could happen.

“Those have been happening here the past couple of days, and that's caused people to stop for safety more than anything else. I talked to local groundskeepers, and they've been working long shifts, coming in quite early in the morning to make sure that the fields are dried out, that the water isn't allowed to soak too much and make it risky.

Pacific Mini Games 2025 Day 2 highlights:

“The last thing you want are these athletes who've worked so hard to come here, suddenly busting a knee or busting an ankle because the ground is too soaked. Thankfully… there haven't been too many events these first couple of days.”

He says though that the main worry with the weather is the consistency and length of the showers, which has persisted since the Games started. Despite the rain, attendance has been strong, with swimming and va’a events attracting enthusiastic spectators.

“You couldn't move at the pool yesterday for the finals, which was lovely for the fans. [At] the softball games, I managed to catch some American Sāmoan fans today doing some wonderful singing and cheering. The softball team started cheering in response.

“It's been a lot of energy from the crowds. Volleyball, the stadium was packed out again with fans. The stands have been full, and that's really encouraging to the Palauans. The Palauans have been out in numbers, even though it's the beginning of the week.”

Medal standings

Tahiti continues to top the Medal Table at the Pacific Mini Games. Image/pg2025.gems.pro

With Tahiti leading the medal count after the first two days, Nokise expects strong competition from other countries. He points out that Palau won their first va’a medals in 12 years on Monday, alongside two other medals which “really meant heaps to them”.

“People have seen Tahiti dominate, obviously in va’a and volleyball, they've got a bit of a history there. So now as the other events come in, weightlifting, track and field, judo, table tennis - one I'm looking forward to because that's got a whole bunch of old dogs.

“Guys in their 50s. There's a 71-year-old… he's taking on a Tahiti player. At 71, he is older than the total combined age of the Tahiti table tennis team. So there's definitely some athletes that I'll be interested in looking at.

“The main thing I think over the next few days is because Tahiti has got ahead in the medal count - watch for performers from every other country, particularly Palau, but every other country to actually go, ‘hang on, we don't want Tahiti to run away with these games’.”