Island Games: Anglesey to host 'mini Olympics'
Anglesey will host a "mini Olympics" after winning the rights to host the International Island Games.
A total of 4,000 athletes from 24 islands will compete on the Welsh island after a vote of members. Anglesey originally bid to host the biannual event in 2025, but a date depends on the rescheduling of Guernsey's 2021 games due to Covid-19. Gareth Parry, the chairman of the bid committee, said it was a "historic moment" for the island. "Our aim now is to ensure that the games help to transform current and future leisure provision on the island as well as bringing a much-needed boost to the tourism sector," he added. "The hard work starts now to make sure the event is an unprecedented success, and one that leaves a legacy for our young people in future." Anglesey, or Ynys Mon in Welsh, bid to host the games in 2009, where it missed out to Aland, in Finland. The island previously hosted an inter-island gymnastics competition in 2015 and a football tournament in 2019. Llinos Medi, leader of Anglesey council, said: "This is fantastic news for Ynys Mon and will help once again put our island on the world map." Rhun ap Iowerth, Member of the Senedd for Ynys Mon, said: "This is fantastic news for Ynys Mon, securing the rights to host the International Island Games, bringing one of the biggest multi-sport events in the world to the island for the first time ever." Who competes in the Island Games? Anglesey is one of 24 islands, all with a population of less than 150,000 people, which compete in the games. Others include the Isle of Wight, Orkney, the Shetland Islands, the Western Isles and the Isle of Man, as well as the Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark. British overseas territories of Gibraltar, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands and St Helena also compete. Greenland is the largest islands which competes. The other islands are Aland (Finland), Froya (Norway), the Faroe Islands (Denmark), Gotland (Sweden), Hitra (Norway), Menorca (Spain) and Saaremaa (Estonia).