Games of the Small States of Europe facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Games of the Small States of Europe
Logo of the event
Genre	Multisport competitions
Location(s)	International
Inaugurated	1985; 40 years ago (1985)
Previous event	2023
Next event	2025
Organised by	European Olympic Committees

Member states in red, Vatican City in blue as unknown status, Faroe Islands in green as a prospective member

The Games of the Small States of Europe (often called GSSE) is a big sports event. It happens every two years. The Republic of San Marino started these games. Since 1985, nine small European countries have joined in.

These games usually take place in late May or early June. Athletes compete in nine different sports. These sports are also part of the Summer Olympic Games.

Countries That Compete

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) help organize these games. When the games first started in 1984, there were eight member countries. In 2009, Montenegro joined, making it nine members.

To be part of the games, a country must have fewer than one million people. Cyprus is the only country that is an exception to this rule. Its population was under one million when the games began in 1984.

Here are the countries that take part:

The Faroe Islands also want to join the games. However, they are not an independent country. They are an autonomous part of Denmark. Also, they are not a member of the EOC.

Past Games and Hosts

The Games of the Small States of Europe have been held many times. Each time, a different member country hosts the event. This table shows where and when the games have taken place. It also shows how many athletes and sports were part of each event.

No.	Year	Host City	Host Nation	Dates	Nations	Compet­itors	Sports	Events	Champions
1	1985	City of San Marino	San Marino	23–26 May	8	222	7	49	Iceland (ISL)
2	1987	Monaco City	Monaco	14–17 May		468	9	66
3	1989	Nicosia	Cyprus	17–20 May		675	8	75	Cyprus (CYP)
4	1991	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	21–25 May		697	8	82	Iceland (ISL)
5	1993	Valletta	Malta	25–29 May		690	8	87
6	1995	Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	29 May – 3 June		684	9	88
7	1997	Reykjavík	Iceland	2–7 June		714	10	87
8	1999	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	24–29 May		566	9	86
9	2001	City of San Marino	San Marino	29 May – 2 June		658	11	101
10	2003	Valletta	Malta	2–7 June		765	10	105	Cyprus (CYP)
11	2005	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	30 May – 4 June		793	11	120
12	2007	Monaco City	Monaco	4–9 June		1062	12	121
13	2009	Various	Cyprus	1–6 June		843	9	120
14	2011	Various	Liechtenstein	30 May – 4 June	9	750	9	113
15	2013	Luxembourg City	Luxembourg	27 May – 1 June		762	12	120	Luxembourg (LUX)
16	2015	Reykjavík	Iceland	27 May – 1 June		789	11	120	Iceland (ISL)
17	2017	City of San Marino	San Marino	29 May – 3 June		889	11	131	Luxembourg (LUX)
18	2019	Budva	Montenegro	27 May – 1 June		846	10	113
19	2021	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	Cancelled to avoid scheduling conflict with the rescheduled 2020 Summer Olympics
19	2023	Various	Malta	28 May – 3 June	9	835	10	125	Malta (MLT)
20	2025	Andorra la Vella	Andorra	26 May – 1 June		800+	12	160	Cyprus (CYP)
21	2027	Monaco City	Monaco	Future event
22	2029	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Future event

Sports at the Games

Many different sports are part of the Games of the Small States of Europe. Some sports have different types of events, called disciplines. For example, cycling includes both mountain biking and road cycling. The table below shows all the sports that have been featured. The colors help group similar sports together.

     Aquatics           Basketball           Cycling           Gymnastics           Volleyball
     The planned Games of 2021 were cancelled due to the rescheduling of the 2020 Summer Olympics

Sport (Discipline)		Body	85	87	89	91	93	95	97	99	01	03	05	07	09	11	13	15	17	19	21	23
Swimming (records)		LEN	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		•
Synchronized swimming											•
3-on-3 basketball		FIBAE																			•
Basketball			•	•	•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•
Mountain biking		UEC													•	•	•		•		•
Road cycling			•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		•			•	•		•		•
Artistic		UEG							•					•	•		•	•			•
Rhythmic															•
Beach volleyball		CEV												•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Volleyball				•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Archery		WAE																	•
Athletics (records)		EAA	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Boules		CMSB									•			•						•	•
Golf		EGA																	•
Sailing		EUROSAF									•		•	•
Judo		EJU	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Karate		EKF																			•
Squash		ESF							•	•		•				•
Shooting		ESF	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Table tennis		ETTU						•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Taekwondo		ETU											•								•
Tennis		TE		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Weightlifting		EWF	•	•
Sport (Discipline)		Body	85	87	89	91	93	95	97	99	01	03	05	07	09	11	13	15	17	19	21	23

Medal Winners Over Time

Countries compete to win the most medals. Medals are given for gold, silver, and bronze. This table shows how many medals each country has won in total over all the games.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Cyprus (CYP)	555	483	440	1,478
2	Iceland (ISL)	535	415	449	1,399
3	Luxembourg (LUX)	443	447	425	1,315
4	Monaco (MON)	163	182	267	612
5	Malta (MLT)	124	198	250	572
6	Liechtenstein (LIE)	79	86	113	278
7	San Marino (SMR)	76	132	168	376
8	Montenegro (MNE)	67	37	57	161
9	Andorra (AND)	65	111	153	329
Totals (9 entries)		2,107	2,091	2,322	6,520

More Sports Events

• Championships of the Small States of Europe
• Island Games

See also

In Spanish: Juegos de los Pequeños Estados de Europa para niños