The next two editions of the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) are set to include golf and archery, two sporting disciplines that have never featured before in the calendar of competitions since the sporting festival for the continent’s minnow countries came to life in 1985.
Yesterday, the National Olympic Committees of Iceland and San Marino both unveiled their plans for the next two Games which will be held in 2015 and 2017.
Iceland, the next host country after Luxembourg, presented the programme of sport that will be held mainly in Reykjavik and a major novelty was the inclusion of golf which will be played at the Kopra course.
The Iceland organisers said the majority of events will take place in the area of Laugardalur (hot spring valley) which is located at the heart of Reykjavik. Top sporting facilities already exist in the area where basketball, volleyball, athletics, swimming, beach volley, artistic gymnastics and judo can be staged.
Shooting, both clay and indoor, were kept in the programme of events along with tennis for the next GSSE after this.
The road cycling and mountain bike events, however, will not form part of the schedule for the 2015 Games which will be held between June 1 and 6.
The logo to be adopted by the Iceland NOC will be “Let’s meet in the middle” in a reference to the geographical position of Iceland which is in the middle between Europe and America.
San Marino officials also leaked the first information of their sports programme which will be held between May 29 and June 3, 2017.
The San Marino Games will have bowls back in the calendar but a major inclusion will be that of archery. This sport of bows and arrows will also feature for the first time in the biennial Games.
Athletics, basketball, judo, shooting, swimming, table tennis, volleyball and beach volleyball will all be retained from the Iceland 2015 programme but cycling returns at the expense of golf.
Sport Domus, the multi-event complex which has just been constructed in Serravalle, will be the main sporting venue for the 2017 Games which mark the start of the third cycle of GSSE competition.