Team Samoa's Chef de Mission is determined to lead the medal tally this year, saying the hosts strong preparations have been further boosted by training camps in China.
Samoa's Lauititi Lui set new Pacific Games records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total. Photo: RNZI / Vinnie Wylie
The games opening ceremony is on Sunday with around 3,500 athletes from 24 nations across the region expected to compete in 27 sports.
Nynette Sass said the atmosphere in the country is already festive with locals looking forward to welcoming all the visitors.
She said the country's athletes are equally excited and look to put in a strong performance at the games especially with their preparations boosted by training camps in China.
"We took advantage of the generous offer from China to utilise their high performance units and coaches to upgrade our own skills. And it was not just for the athletes the coaches that went that accompanied the athletes also got a lot of benefit out of this," Nynette Sass said.
Mulifanua will host the Va'a and sailing competitions during the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa. Photo: Supplied/Samoa Government
Nynette Sass said more than 500 athletes will be representing Samoa at the games with 640 local staff supporting them as well as technical advisors from China.
"Which is a great help and a great boost to our teams preparations. I am pretty confident that we will do extremely well [in] this games," Nynette Sass said.
"I think there has been a lot more support towards team Samoa compared to the past and we really do feel that we can win these games."