July 17, 2003

It took a few days, but the medals table for the South Pacific Games was finally released by the organizers in Fiji, with New Caledonia on top once again. New Caledonia has finished atop the medals table in ten of the twelve South Pacific Games.

New Caledonia does not have a National Olympic Committee recognized by the IOC. As a French territory, qualified New Caledonians would compete for France in the Olympic Games.

The medals table was made public with the caveat, "the convention used to determine the Medal Tally for these Games is that a minimum of four competitors are required to recognize the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medallist on this list. Where there are three competitors, Gold and Silver are recognized and where there are two only the Gold. This will be subject to review after the Games have concluded. The SPG Charter in fact only awards a gold medal for events in which there are three competitors and only Gold and Silver for events with four competitors. Once the SPG Council have deliberated on this the above tally will be adjusted.