The Sal Island CPLP Games
After an incredible opening ceremony, attended by The Resort Group PLC founder Rob Jarrett and other dignitaries, the CPLP Games were off to an impressive start. As gold sponsors, The Resort Group PLC were proud to offer rooms in MELIÃ Dunas Beach Resort & Spa and MELIÃ Tortuga Beach Resort for both athletes and organisers.
The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) Games is a multinational under-16s sporting event that has been encouraging young athletes to compete for nearly 25 years. Spanning four days, with events as varied as Beach Volleyball, Tennis and Football, the Games draw as many as 1000 people to the Island, including competitors, volunteers and medical staff.
A real highlight for the Island came during the 100m, T-13 category when local Paralympic athlete Ireland Lopes took the gold medal. His success is now the best performance in Cape Verde CPLP history, winning two more gold medals and five in total for the archipelago. It’s an incredible achievement given that his training for international competitions only started two years ago.
Though narrowly missing out on some of the prizes, it was still clear that every Cape Verdean athlete performed above and beyond. One such game was Cape Verde’s 2-0 defeat to Brazil in the men’s soccer U-16, a match played at Stadium Marcelo Leitão in Espargos. The Cape Verde team Coach, Jorge Humberto, commented that he considered it a normal defeat against “an excellent team” and remained confident in their abilities.
As the curtain fell on the 10th edition of the CPLP Games, it had proven to be one of the most successful yet. The final tally put Cape Verde fourth in the medal tables with 3 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze medals – a total of 11.
For more information on the Games, visit the official website: http://cv2016.jogoscplp.org/index.php and find out more about The Resort Group’s involvement in Cape Verde sport on the blog.