Reunion Island Tourism (IRT) is presently staging the Indian Ocean Games for the third time, after the 1979 inaugural edition and then hosting the event for a second time in 1998. This is the ninth edition of the games.
Some 1,525 contestants vying for medals are participating in the 14 different sporting events, coming from the Seychelles, Mayotte, Madagascar, Mauritius, and even the Maldives, accompanied by several hundred team staff, coaches, and physicians. Competitions are held across the entire island of Reunion in about 20 stadia and locations and include athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, football, weightlifting, handball, judo, swimming, tennis, table tennis, sailing, and volleyball.
Reunion Islalnd has been in the global news in recent days over the finding of aircraft debris, possibly from the missing flight MH370 and also for the third eruption this year of the Piton de la Fournaise, one of the most active volcanos in the world.