In a penultimate day filled with varied medal events, the standout performer was 24-year-old Esther Wejieme from New Caledonia, claiming gold in the women's 200m at the Sol2023 Pacific Games at the National Stadium in Honiara with a time of just 23.83 seconds. Papua New Guinea's Leonie Beu secured second place with 24.22 seconds, while Guam's Regine Tugade-Watson took third in 24.24 seconds.

The midday heat at the National Stadium played a role in Loan Ville from New Caledonia securing the gold medal in the women's 400m hurdles with a winning time of 57.26 seconds. The 20-year-old expressed her joy to the Pacific Games News Service: "I'm very happy with this gold medal, and I thank all my coaches for helping me train and gain more experience. It's thanks to them that today I won the gold medal." The silver went to Australia's Isabelle Guthrie (57.77 seconds), and bronze to Tahiti's Hereiti Bernardino (64.02).

New Caledonia, the dominant force in the Solomon Islands Games, added more medals in women's ambulant shot put. Rose Vandegou and Rose Welepa from New Caledonia finished with gold and silver, respectively, adding to their country's impressive medal tally. Rose Vandegou faced challenges with the heat and had to pass on her final two attempts, but her initial attempts were good enough to secure the gold medal. Classified as F41 for field events, she threw 7.52 meters, earning a placement percentage of 72.16 and the gold medal. With a final distance of 9.17 meters, her teammate Rose Welepa achieved a final classification percentage of 70.26 against her F13 classification, narrowly missing the gold and settling for silver.

At the same National Stadium in Honiara, Australia claimed gold and silver in women's long jump. Samantha Dale of Australia won gold and broke her compatriot Rellie Kaputin's six-year-old record. She jumped 6 meters and 42 centimeters (22 more than her compatriot). The podium was completed by her teammate Katie Gunn, who took silver (6.03), while the former record-holder from Papua New Guinea, Rellie Kaputin, secured her third bronze in Sol2023 with a jump of 5.89 meters.

Athletics took the spotlight as Papua New Guinea (PNG) earned several medals, closing in on Fiji in the battle for the fifth position (29 to 21), approaching Samoa (34 golds) in the medal standings.

PNG's relay team emerged victorious in the 4x100m at the Sol2023 Pacific Games at the National Stadium in Honiara on Friday, securing their status as the new regional champions, relegating Fiji, who had been the dominant force in the Pacific Games Samoa 2019. While Fiji led in the first 300 meters, PNG surged in the last 100 meters, overturning the race for a thrilling finish and the eruption of cheers from the crowd at the National Stadium. Athletes Pais Wisil, Daniel Baul, Emmanuel Anis, and Emmanuel Wanga crossed the finish line in 40.59 seconds, just below the Pacific Games record (40.15) set by Fiji in 1997. As mentioned, the silver went to the former champions, and the bronze to Vanuatu.

This achievement adds to the three previous relay victories on the hot tracks of the Solomon Islands. PNG can return home with pride in a job well done: They secured all four relay events in Sol2023 – 4x400m and 4x100m for both men and women.

Tahiti won the last two va'a races to cap off an epic week at Sol2023, taking home two more gold medals in the men's and women's V6-24km marathon races at DC Park. The marathon involves six paddlers completing three laps of an 8km course, covering a total distance of 24km. The first race was won by Tahitian female paddlers with a time of 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 36 seconds, demonstrating strength and speed over the three laps. Fiji followed with 2:05:13 seconds, and New Caledonia took bronze in 2:07:33.

In the afternoon, Tahiti's men's team hit the waters, claiming gold with a finishing time of 1:49:37. Six strong Fijian men paddled steadily to the finishing buoy, claiming silver in 1:56:58, while New Caledonia settled for bronze again (2:01:04).

In other team sports, in field hockey, Fiji crowned themselves as the true Pacific monarch after securing their seventh title at the Sol2023 Pacific Games in Honiara on Friday. The men dramatically overcame Papua New Guinea (PNG) 3-2 in penalties, while Fiji's women did the same, defeating the hosts 2-0, who couldn't overcome the strong contenders despite the enthusiastic crowd.

In football, Papua New Guinea (PNG) claimed glory in the women's division of the Pacific Games for the sixth time against a resilient Fiji team at the National Stadium in Honiara, despite the final score of 4-1. Meanwhile, in Friday's women's bronze medal match, New Caledonia emerged victorious by defeating Samoa 3-1.

While the medal table already has a clear leader with New Caledonia solidified at the top with 197 medals (82+57+58), Saturday will see plenty of action, not least the closing ceremonies. There will be action in men's football from 10 am at the National Stadium with the match between the hosts and New Caledonia vying for gold; boxing (1 pm), netball (from 8:30 am), and marathon (5:45 am), among other disciplines that, despite being sold out, will enliven the last day before the Closing Ceremony scheduled for 7 pm, which is also sold out.

Additionally, at the SIFF Academy, 3x3 basketball and beach volleyball will conclude with medal matches in both the men's and women's tournaments. DC Park will host the final playoffs and medal matches in the mixed touch rugby team competition. Matches will run until around 3:30 pm with free entry. Also at DC Park and with free entry, sailing will see its final races starting from 10 am onwards