The Indian Ocean Island Games are underway in Madagascar and people are quite thrilled about it.
Harinjaka gives us a preview [1] of the anticipation back home:
“C’est parti pour le 7 ème Jeux des îles de l’Océan Indien (JIOI).
La flamme olympique arrive aujourd’hui [2] au stade de Mahamasina (Tananarive) pour annoncer l’ouverture des 7èmes JIOI, qui se tiendront du 9 au 19 août à Tananarive.
Plus de 200 athlètes originaires de sept îles de l’océan Indien, à savoir les Comores, les Maldives, l’île Maurice, Mayotte, La Réunion, les Seychelles et Madagascar, participeront à 16 différents sports pour cette competition.[..]j’ai pu ressentir l’excitation des malgaches dont l’émotion est vraiment palpable [3] [..]
Sachez quand même que 86 pays vivront en direct la plupart des compétitions. [4] ”
« the 7th Indian Ocean Island Games are underway (IOIG).
The Olympic flame arrives today [2]at the Mahamasina stadium (Antananarivo) to signal the opening of the 7th IOIG, which will be held from the 9 to the 19th of August in Antananarivo.
More than 200 athletes from seven islands in the Indian Ocean: the Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius, Mayotte, Reunion, Seychelles and Madagascar, will take part in 16 various sports for this competition. [.]
One can sense the excitation of the Malagasy people whose enthusiasm for the event is undeniable [3][.]
Note that 86 countries will be able to follow live most of of the matches [4].”
Su adds in the comment section that the event is so important that the day of the opening ceremony has been declared a national holiday [5].
( Ravi, the official mascott of the Indian Ocean Island Games. Photo credit: http://www.jioi2007.mg/ [6])