The Masters Games is a multi-sport event that
offers "mature" participants the opportunity to interact with each
other in a range of sporting and social activities.
The philosophy of Masters Games is one of participation with competition being important but not all-important. HISTORY:
- The
very first Masters Games event was the World Masters Games, held in
1985 in Canada. This event attracted 8,305 competitors from 61
different countries.
- The
1994 World Masters Games held in Brisbane, Australia attracted whopping
24,000 athletes from 71 countries. A marked increase from the very
first games!
- Following this, national events began to surface. The first Australian Masters Games was held in 1987.
- The very first New Zealand Masters Games event was held in Wanganui in 1989.
- Originally
the NZ Masters Games was to be a biannual event held only in Wanganui.
However, Dunedin entered a bid to host the Games in Wanganui's
off-season.
- Since 1991, the Games have been held every year, alternating between Wanganui in the odd years and Dunedin in the even years.
- The NZ Masters Games have been running for 14 years thus far.
- The
minimum age to participate is 30 years in most sports. However,
swimming is open to those over 20 years of age whilst croquet is only
open to those over 50 years!
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