Team Samoa athletes and officials from the 2022 Pacific Mini Games in the Northern Mariana Islands flew into the country on Tuesday afternoon with their loved ones meeting them on arrival.

Families and friends including the children of the athletes gave the team a rousing welcome after they exited the arrival lounge of the Faleolo International Airport.

Samoa finished 8th on the overall medal tally behind Fiji and ahead of the 2023 Pacific Games host, Solomon Islands. They collected 21 medals comprising 8 gold, 5 silver and 8 bronze and contested in athletics, beach volleyball, golf, tennis and weight-lifting.

Six of Samoa’s gold medals were won by the weightlifting team with the other two coming from athletics.

Samoan weightlifter Iuniarra Sipaia Simanu, who competed in the 87 kg women’s category and broke Oceania and Pacific Mini Games records in the clean and jerk, told the Samoa Observer that she was glad to be back home.

"I thank God that we were able to arrive back home safely, I'm so happy with what I've achieved thus far where I was able to break records and I give God all the praise,” Iuniarra said. 

"I also want to thank Samoa, especially my parents and friends for their continuous support.”

The Team Samoa Chef de Mission, Sula Tagifano Sam Chong, told the Samoa Observer that despite the difficulties they faced in their training leading up to the event, the athletes did really well in representing the country. 

"You can tell that they had heart in the way they performed,” she said. 

Sula then commended the athletes on their performance during the week-long competition, while also relaying her thanks to the people of Samoa for showing their support for their players.

The contribution of the Samoa Government was also acknowledged with the Chef de Mission emphasising that their participation at the Mini Games would not have been possible with the Government’s support.

Papua New Guinea (PNG) came out overall winners of the Mini Games with a total of 80 medals comprising 33 gold, 28 silver and 19 bronze medals. Tahiti came second with a total of 58 medals of which 22 were gold, 15 silver and 21 bronze and the Mini Games host Northern Mariana Islands came third with a total of 38 medals comprising 16 gold, 13 silver and 9 bronze. American Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) were the only states out of the 19 nations and territories that participated that did not get any medals at the Mini Games.