Members of the Isle of Man team which finished second in the medals table at this summer’s Island Games were honoured at a reception hosted by His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor Mr Adam Wood. The Isle of Man team took part in 14 sports and faced stiff competition from teams representing 24 islands – but our national squad did us proud by returning with a magnificent haul of 90 medals (34 gold, 27 silver and 29 bronze). Only the home team from Jersey did better.

Many of the Isle of Man competitors, and team officials, attended the reception at Government House on Thursday evening [September 24]. His Excellency, whose five year term of office as Lieutenant Governor ends in April 2016, gave a speech at the reception and said: “What you have all achieved in securing such an incredible medal tally this summer was so uplifting for all of us who live on this island. One of the things I will take away from the Island when I leave will be the extraordinary over-performance from such a small community in many fields, but especially in sport. It’s been a privilege to welcome so many of you here this evening. The Island is proud of you all – thank you for all that you have done this summer.”

Also in attendance at the reception was Manx Telecom CEO Gary Lamb and Marketing Director David Smith – the Island’s leading communications company was the team’s official sponsor this year. Gary Lamb commented: “The Island Games is an excellent event, and one in which the Isle of Man has a proud history both as host of the inaugural Games in 1985, and as one of the strongest teams over the years. We were extremely proud to support the team, and delighted to see so many fantastic performances from competitors in all sports.”

Manx Telecom provided squad members with a mobile phone roaming package to help them keep in touch with friends and family who couldn’t make it to Jersey. The Games also received extensive coverage on MTTV, the Island’s premier online on-demand news service. The company’s support for the Island Games team is the latest in a long list of sports sponsorships. In recent years this has included being title sponsor for the Parish Walk, End2End Mountain Bike Challenge, and the Tough Mann Adventure Challenge. The company also sponsors the Manx Road Club cycling team (which competes as Team Manx Telecom). In the build up to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Manx Telecom was also one of Team Isle of Man’s ‘Champions’ who sponsored the national squad.

Photo - His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor Mr Adam Wood (centre) with, left to right, Gary Lamb, CEO Manx Telecom; Jill Gillings, Secretary of the Island Games Association of Mann; Gary Jakeman, Chairman of the Island Games Association of Mann; and David Smith, Manx Telecom Marketing Director.