The PNG women's 4x400m relay team celebrate their gold medal win in Honiara on Thursday. 30 November 2023 Photo: Team PNG
New Caledonia is well in the lead on the 2023 Pacific Games medal tally, with two days of competition to go in Honiara.
New Caledonia has won 174 medals, 73 of those gold.
Tahiti has moved to second place on the ladder with 141 medals, which includes a haul of 46 gold. The Tahitians overtook Australia on second spot after Thursday's competition.
Australia has 45 gold while Papua New Guinea has climbed to fourth position with 17 gold, one more than Fiji, who has dropped to sixth position.
All competing nations and territories have now won a medal, except Tokelau.
Pacific Games medal tally at the end of competition on Thursday, 30 November 2023. Photo: RNZ Pacific
More medals at stake
Today is all finals and semi-finals with the last day of competition tomorrow.
It's a busy day for track and field with the men's and women's finals for 200 meters, 400m hurdles, 3000m steeplechase, 4x100m relay, high jump, triple jump, shot put and also ambulant events for Javelin and shot put as well.
Other sports wrapping up today include Hockey, Triathlon and Vaa (V6 Marathon).
Touch rugby, netball and boxing also get back into action today, with semi-finals in netball and touch rugby, plus some final matches in boxing.
Tomorrow is the last day of competition.
One fixture that will be sold out in this football mad country is the men's football final at the New National Stadium.
Around 15,000 people packed into the home of Solomon's football, Lawson Tama stadium, for the semi-finals.
The hosts Solomon Islands will meet New Caledonia in the final.
Other sports finals being played tomorrow ahead of the closing ceremony which has already sold out of tickets are athletics, netball, boxing, basketball 3x3, beach volleyball, sailing and touch rugby.
The Games closing ceremony will be held after the finals.
Tickets sold out
Meanwhile, tickets for the Games Closing Ceremony officially sold out on Monday, the Pacific Games Media reported.
The Games Organising Committee (GOC)'s revenue supervisor Mike Vereseni confirmed that all 10,000 tickets have been purchased.
"The final batch of tickets, around 800 plus, were purchased today. People were lining up to buy tickets the whole day, and just a little after lunch time, all closing ceremony tickets sold out."
Games chief executive Peter Stewart acknowledged the Honiara public for embracing the Games, seeing both the opening and closing ceremony tickets sold out, one a week after the other.
"This is truly great news. We are so pleased that the excitement and the enthusiasm towards Sol2023 has continued on following the magnificent opening ceremony. It is indeed great to see the public embrace the Games in the manner that we can only hope for.
"Seeing it come to fruition is indeed refreshing."
![Pacific Games women's 100m final - Australia’s Georgia Harris shouts as she (third from right) crosses the finish line [11.7 secs] to claim gold for her country. PNG’s Asila Apkup (third from left) won silver [11.86 secs] and Guam’s Regine Tugade-Watson (Fourth from left) won bronze [11.92secs]. Solomon Islands National Stadium 28 November 2023](https://media.rnztools.nz/rnz/image/upload/s--GsrVkwLj--/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_288/v1701204387/4KYTJG5_MicrosoftTeams_image_11_png?_a=BACCd2AD)
