Top: The logo on the official Island Games 2009 Results Site. Below: The view the St Helena team will have on their return to the island's capital Jamestown in about 4 weeks time! (from www.sthelena.se)
We really are getting close now – the official event website has launched its live results page today! This is at
http://www.alandresults2009.com/
This site is completely interactive and lists all entrants in the Games in every sport. This can be listed by island, by sport, etc. Competitors can click onto their events and see exactly who the opposition is and see a photo of each of their rivals. Note – photos are not shown for competitors under the age of 16, so Danielle Ross’ photo should appear on the site tomorrow. Happy birthday Danielle! The site is packed with information including the full schedule, Games records etc, and is well worth a look.
The Isle of Man team are busy making late preparations before their departure a week on Friday, and on the days of travel they will have the luxury of direct flights to Aland. Not so the team from St Helena, who are shortly leaving for a 3-day boat journey to Ascension Island. From there they have a marathon flight to London, where they stay overnight before catching another flight to Stockholm. They will then get a coach to the ferry terminal, and after a 3-hour sailing they will finally arrive in Mariehamn on the 25th June. They will presumably be travelling back the same way. That's an even longer journey than mine!
To me it’s the small teams from far-flung places like St Helena, right in the middle of the southern Atlantic Ocean, that make the Island Games so special. When Gail and I were in Shetland as supporters in 2005 we stayed in a B&B in Lerwick, and one of the other guests was a lady from St Helena who travels to every Island Games to support her fellow islanders. Their entire team usually only consists of about 6 to 8 competitors, but I still remember her absolute joy at seeing one of them win a badminton match! Just to show what a small world it is, I discovered that her doctor about 20-30 years ago was ‘Doc’ Dave Young of local fell running fame – he had a spell working in St Helena in his younger days!
10 days to go – I wonder if the 2007 Opening Ceremony has finished yet…
http://www.alandresults2009.com/
This site is completely interactive and lists all entrants in the Games in every sport. This can be listed by island, by sport, etc. Competitors can click onto their events and see exactly who the opposition is and see a photo of each of their rivals. Note – photos are not shown for competitors under the age of 16, so Danielle Ross’ photo should appear on the site tomorrow. Happy birthday Danielle! The site is packed with information including the full schedule, Games records etc, and is well worth a look.
The Isle of Man team are busy making late preparations before their departure a week on Friday, and on the days of travel they will have the luxury of direct flights to Aland. Not so the team from St Helena, who are shortly leaving for a 3-day boat journey to Ascension Island. From there they have a marathon flight to London, where they stay overnight before catching another flight to Stockholm. They will then get a coach to the ferry terminal, and after a 3-hour sailing they will finally arrive in Mariehamn on the 25th June. They will presumably be travelling back the same way. That's an even longer journey than mine!
To me it’s the small teams from far-flung places like St Helena, right in the middle of the southern Atlantic Ocean, that make the Island Games so special. When Gail and I were in Shetland as supporters in 2005 we stayed in a B&B in Lerwick, and one of the other guests was a lady from St Helena who travels to every Island Games to support her fellow islanders. Their entire team usually only consists of about 6 to 8 competitors, but I still remember her absolute joy at seeing one of them win a badminton match! Just to show what a small world it is, I discovered that her doctor about 20-30 years ago was ‘Doc’ Dave Young of local fell running fame – he had a spell working in St Helena in his younger days!
10 days to go – I wonder if the 2007 Opening Ceremony has finished yet…
No comments:
Post a Comment