By Jarred Sferruzzi, EMTV Online
As the 2015 Pacific Games enters its 15th day, Papua New Guinea’s have been celebrating their athletes performances thanks to the host nation hitting the top of the medal tally early on and not leaving the pedestal since.
Historically New Caledonia has been the most successful Pacific country in the games, having topped the medal tally 12 out of a total of 14 gatherings. The only countries to have toppled the semi-autonomous French state were Papua New Guinea in 1991, and Fiji in the first ever Pacific Games in 1963.
PNG once again looks set to take out the mantle as overall winners, commanding a lead of 28 medals over New Caledonia, 13 of those being Gold (at time of writing). With just over a day left of competition, how likely is it that the traditionally dominant country can make a comeback and knock the host nation out of the top spot?
According to the official Port Moresby 2015 website and schedule, 12 sports are still in contention comprising a total of 47 Gold medals (141 medals in total). It is likely New Caledonia will win some of these events, however the possibility that they will win enough, and Papua New Guinea will win none, are highly unlikely. This is made even more apparent considering that New Caledonia is absent from at least nine of these competitions.
Whether New Caledonia can overcome the odds and topple Papua New Guinea on the final day of competition is yet to be seen, but if the last 15 days are anything to by, the ultimate winners will be you and I.
