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The Island Games 2025
By: Hunter Han
2025’s Island Games are to be held in the Orkney Islands. The competition includes 24 islands and 12 sports, with the objective of bringing the islands together.
The Island Games are an annual and friendly competition. 9 of the 24 islands are, in alphabetical order: Åland, Alderney, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Frøya, Gibraltar, and Gotland. The other 15 are Gozo, Greenland, Guernsey, Hitra, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Jersey, Menorca, Orkney, Saaremaa, Saint Helena, Sark, Shetland, Western Isles, and Ynys Môn (Anglesey). Most of these islands are located in Europe; Saint Helena is the only island not in Europe, as it is an overseas U.K. territory.
The twelve different sports are, in alphabetical order, archery, athletics, badminton, bowling, cycling, football, golf, gymnastics, sailing, squash, swimming, and triathlon. The cities in which the games were hosted are Stromness and Kirkwall, off the north coast of Scotland, U.K.
Participants are required to be over the age of 13, due to safety concerns. Like any other sports association, the Island Games has a mascot, Ola the Orca. Ola was made by Sarah, a 12-year-old.
The games were officially opened on Saturday, July 12, with roughly 2000 competitors and volunteers, joined by thousands of visitors. HRH Princess Anne, also known as the Princess Royal, attended the opening at Bignold Park. The games were then officially ended on Friday, July 18. This means the games lasted a total of 7 days.
The benefit of the Island Games stretches beyond winning. The Island Games motivate young sports competitors to represent their home island and win for it. It can also be like a set of stairs to higher-end sports competitions, like the Olympics.
The Island Games began in 1985 during that year’s “Isle of Man’s year of sport. The Isle of Man belongs to the U.K., but is a self-governing body between Northern Ireland and England. The idea was to bring islands together in the “Inter-Island Games.” Although it was meant to include islands from all around the world, due to transport and cost concerns, most islands are in Europe.
The first Island Games featured 700 competitors from 15 different islands. 7 of those 15 different islands were, in alphabetical order: Åland, Finland; Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Wales, U.K.; Faroe Islands, Denmark; Frøya, Norway; Gotland, Sweden; Guernsey, U.K.; and Hitra, Norway. The others were Iceland; Isle of Wight, U.K.; Isle of Man, U.K.; Jersey, U.K.; Malta; Orkney Islands, Scotland, U.K.; Saint Helena, U.K. (overseas); and Shetland Islands, Scotland, U.K.
Originally, the games included only 8 sports, but since then, many different islands and sports have been added. This happened as the Island Games slowly became more popular, and soon different islands and sports were asking to join.
This year’s island games are being hosted in Kirkwall and Stromness in the Orkney Islands for the first time, striving to unite many islands together in a friendly competition. Officially opened in Bignold Park, Kirkwall, it lasted 7 days from July 12th to July 8th.
Resources:
“Island Games 2025: What is it and who takes part?” BBC News, 11 July 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c3r91g8llg9o
“Princess Royal to open Orkney’s Island Games,” BBC News, 21 May 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6299q15rr0o

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Hunter Han