AS the 2022 Pacific Mini Games came to a close on Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex, Northern Marianas PMG2022 CEO Ben Babauta handed the PMG flag to Palau National Olympic Committee Secretary General Joyleen Baklai Temengil.
Palau will host the 12th PMG in 2025.
“On behalf of our Team Palau and the president of the Palau Olympic Committee, Frank Kyota, I’m honored to receive the games’ flag,” Temengil said. “Congratulations to all the athletes and the Northern Mariana Islands for the exceptional games. Biba NMI!”
Temengil added, “We look forward to hosting and welcoming you to the north, the Republic of Palau, in 2025.”
Pacific Games Council President Vidhya Lakhan, in his closing remarks, said: “I call upon the sportsmen and sportswomen of the Pacific to assemble in three years time, in Palau, to celebrate the 12th Pacific Mini Games. May you display cheerfulness and harmony so that the spirit of our Pacific family of nations may carry on with ever greater eagerness, courage and honor for the good of humanity and peace of the world.”
The only other bid for the 2025 Pacific Mini Games was offered by American Samoa but it was deemed non-compliant.
The last time Palau hosted the Mini Games, which are held every four years, was in 2005.
The 11th Mini Games were supposed to be held in the CNMI in 2021, but the event was rescheduled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was the first time that the CNMI had hosted the Pacific Mini Games.
Palau delegation members watch the fireworks during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Pacific Mini Games on Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex.
Palau National Olympic Committee Secretary General Joyleen Baklai Temengil shares a few words during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Pacific Mini Games on Saturday at the Oleai Sports Complex.
