The Seychelles women's volleyball national team defended its champion title for the fourth consecutive time at the 11th edition of the Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) on Sunday.
The Seychellois side defeated host country Madagascar 3-2 at a set score of 25-11, 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, and 15-11 to give Seychelles its 11th gold medal at the Games.
The women's volleyball was the only team sport in which Seychelles won a gold medal at the 11th edition of the IOIG. The team won the volleyball competition in the Indian Ocean Island Games in 2011 in Seychelles, 2015 in Reunion, and 2019 in Mauritius.
The President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, sent a message of congratulations to the team.
"The gold medal is coming home. Well done to our women's volleyball team. Congratulations ladies! You fought hard and showed what you wanted to do in Madagascar. You have truly made Seychelles proud. Congratulations again," said Ramkalawan.
Athlete Iven Moise on Saturday won a second gold medal when he came out first in the 5,000m race in 15 minutes 02.51 seconds. His first gold medal was in the 10,000m race.
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| Moise is the only Seychellois athlete to win a gold medal in the athletics competition. (NSC Seychelles) Photo License: CC-BY |
In his congratulatory message, Ramkalawan said: "Well done Lieutenant Ivan Moise on winning another gold medal for Seychelles! Congratulations and thank you for making Seychelles proud. As Commander-in-Chief, I commend you on your achievements that have undoubtedly made the Seychelles Defence Forces and Seychelles proud."
Moise is the only Seychellois athlete to win a gold medal in the athletics competition.
As the game ended on Sunday, Ramkalawan expressed his sincere appreciation to all Seychellois athletes who participated in the games.
"We admire your determination and courage. Despite challenges, you all did your best. You proved yourselves and we are proud of you. To all the coaches, officials and organisers who have worked tirelessly to prepare and support our athletes, we say a big thank you. To all the media crews and technical teams who have brought us live transmissions and kept us updated throughout the games, thank you. To all of you who have helped in one way or another our sincere appreciation to everyone. Well done Team Seychelles," he said.
Seychelles' delegation at the Games will return home on three separate flights. The first flight will be on Monday, the second on Tuesday, and the final on Wednesday.
Seychelles ended the IOIG in 4th place on the medals table with 84 medals - 11 gold, 33 silver, and 40 bronze.
Madagascar topped the table with 272 medals - 121 gold, 71 silver and 80 bronze, followed by Mauritius and Reunion.
In the last IOIG in 2019 in Mauritius, Seychelles won 111 medals among which 28 were gold.
The next Games are expected to take place in Comoros in 2027.
