Island Games: 100-day countdown to Guernsey event begins

Organisers have unveiled the schedule for the Island Games on Guernsey, 100 days before the event begins.

To celebrate the launch, coordinators came together at Beau Sejour to reflect on getting to this point.

The games begins on 8 July, with an opening ceremony along the town's seafront.

In total, there will be 2,194 athletes from 24 member islands around the world, competing in 14 different sports across 25 venues.

The schedule has been published in full on the Guernsey 23 website.

Brian Allen, chairman of the Guernsey Island Games Association, said he was looking forward to seeing the whole island join in with the "carnival atmosphere" at the opening ceremony.

"It will be a celebration of beating the pandemic and meeting up with like-minded friends and athletes from 24 islands" he said.

"There will be many stand-out sessions in this exciting programme, starting with the triathlon and cycling events early in the week.

"One obvious highlight is on the Tuesday evening when Commonwealth Games medallist Alastair Chalmers will be going for gold on home soil in the 400m hurdles."

Mr Allen said Team Guernsey was "very ambitious".

He added: "We have the added advantage of home support and no travel. We expect a flurry of medals when the swimming starts because in the pool there are 45 gold medals on the line.

"Overall, we are looking for a strong home performance. This is such an opportunity for athletes and for spectators to see sport at the highest level for free."

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