Editing Tuvalu (section)

==Sport and leisure==
{{Main article|Sport in Tuvalu}}
{{See also|Tuvaluan records in athletics|Tuvalu at the Pacific Games|Tuvalu at the Commonwealth Games|Tuvalu at the World Championships in Athletics|Tuvalu at the Olympics}}
A traditional sport played in Tuvalu is ''[[kilikiti]]'',<ref>Squires, Nick (20 March 2006). [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/tuvalu/1513517/South-Seas-war-club-cricketers-take-a-beating-from-football.html "South Seas war club cricketers take a beating from football"] – ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]''. Retrieved 21 September 2015.</ref> which is similar to [[cricket]].<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |first=Tony |last=Squires |title=Testing time for tiny Tuvalu |date=1 April 2012 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4864748.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=31 October 2012}}</ref> A popular sport specific to Tuvalu is ''[[Te ano]]'' (The ball), which is played with two round balls of {{convert|12|cm|0|abbr=on}} diameter.<ref name="Bennetts"/> ''Te ano'' is a traditional game that is similar to [[volleyball]], in which the two hard balls made from [[pandanus]] leaves are volleyed at great speed with the team members trying to stop the ball hitting the ground.<ref name="TP12">{{cite web |last=Panapa |first=Tufoua |title=Ethnographic Research on Meanings and Practices of Health in Tuvalu: A Community Report |publisher=Report to the Tuvaluan Ministries of Health and Education: Ph D Candidate Centre for Development Studies – "Transnational Pacific Health through the Lens of Tuberculosis" Research Group. Department of Anthropology, The University of Auckland, N.Z. |page=19, footnote 4 |year=2012 |url=https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/arts/Departments/anthropology/documents-publications/Tufoua%20Ethnographic%20Research%20on%20Meanings%20and%20Practices%20of%20Health%20in%20Tuvalu%20final.pdf |access-date=6 January 2018}}</ref> Traditional sports in the late 19th century were foot racing, [[lance]] throwing, [[quarterstaff]] fencing and [[Folk wrestling|wrestling]], although the Christian missionaries disapproved of these activities.<ref name="CHS">[[#Hedley|Hedley]], p. 56</ref>

The popular sports in Tuvalu include ''kilikiti'', ''Te ano'', association football, [[futsal]], volleyball, [[handball]], [[basketball]] and [[rugby sevens]]. Tuvalu has sports organisations for [[Tuvalu Athletics Association|athletics]], badminton, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, [[Tuvalu Islands Football Association|football]], [[Basketball in Tuvalu|basketball]], [[Tuvalu Rugby Union|rugby union]], [[Tuvalu Weightlifting Federation|weightlifting]] and [[Tuvalu Powerlifting Federation|powerlifting]]. At the [[2013 Pacific Mini Games]], [[Tuau Lapua Lapua]] won Tuvalu's first gold medal in an international competition in the weightlifting 62 kilogram male [[Snatch (weightlifting)|snatch]]. (He also won bronze in the [[clean and jerk]], and obtained the silver medal overall for the combined event.)<ref name="RNZI030913">{{cite web |work=Radio New Zealand International |title=Sport: Tuvalu make history at Mini Games |date=3 September 2013 |url=http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=78826 |access-date=21 July 2015}}</ref> In 2015, [[Telupe Iosefa]] received the first gold medal won by Tuvalu at the [[Tuvalu at the 2015 Pacific Games|Pacific Games]] in the powerlifting 120&nbsp;kg male division.<ref name="IG1">{{cite web |last=Morgan |first=Liam |work=Pacific Games 2015 |title=Tuvalu claim first-ever Pacific Games gold medal as Samoa and Nauru share Port Moresby 2015 powerlifting spoils |date=10 July 2015 |url=http://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1028592/tuvalu-claim-first-ever-pacific-games-gold-medal-as-samoa-and-nauru-share-port-moresby-2015-powerlifting-spoils |access-date=16 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="GEMS22">{{cite web |work=Pacific Games 2015 |title=Powerlifting 120kg Male |date=10 July 2015 |url=http://pg2015.gems.pro/Result/Event_Overall.aspx?Event_GUID=a3f830c7-642e-44cc-bd35-de2eb1794f88&SetLanguage=en-GB&Section= |access-date=11 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="RNZI1107">{{cite web |work=Radio New Zealand International |title=Sport: Tuvalu wins first ever Pacific Games gold |date=11 July 2015 |url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/278473/sport-tuvalu-wins-first-ever-pacific-games-gold |access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Tuvalu national football team (team picture, 2011).jpg|thumb|right|[[Tuvalu national football team]] (2011)]]
[[Football in Tuvalu]] is played at club and national team level. The [[Tuvalu national football team]] trains at the [[Tuvalu Sports Ground]] in [[Funafuti]] and competes in the [[Pacific Games]]. The [[Tuvalu National Football Association]] is an associate member of the [[Oceania Football Confederation]] (OFC) and is seeking membership in [[FIFA]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/homefifa/news/newsid=886994/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718061914/http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/organisation/homefifa/news/newsid=886994/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2012 |title=Tuvalu eye place in football family |publisher=FIFA}} 22 September 2008</ref><ref name="Frew">{{cite web |first=Craig |last=Frew |title=Tuvalu still dreams of joining Fifa's world football family |date=9 December 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/25137180 |work=BBC Scotland |access-date=10 December 2013}}</ref> The [[Tuvalu national futsal team]] participates in the [[OFC Futsal Nations Cup|Oceanian Futsal Championship]].

A major sporting event is the "Independence Day Sports Festival" held annually on 1 October. The most important sports event within the country is arguably the [[Tuvalu Games]], which are held yearly since 2008. Tuvalu first participated in the Pacific Games in 1978 and in the [[Tuvalu at the Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]] in 1998, when a weightlifter attended the games held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.<ref name="CGFT">{{cite web |title=CGF – Tuvalu |url=http://www.thecgf.com/countries/intro.asp?loc=TUV |publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation |access-date=15 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070729025928/http://www.thecgf.com/countries/intro.asp?loc=TUV |archive-date=29 July 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Two table tennis players attended the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England;<ref name="CGFT"/> Tuvalu entered competitors in shooting, table tennis and weightlifting at the [[Tuvalu at the 2006 Commonwealth Games|2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne]], Australia;<ref name="CGFT"/> three athletes participated in the [[Tuvalu at the 2010 Commonwealth Games|2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi]], India, entering the discus, shot put and weightlifting events;<ref name="CGFT"/> and a team of 3 weightlifters and 2 table tennis players attended the [[Tuvalu at the 2014 Commonwealth Games|2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow]]. Tuvaluan athletes have also participated in the men's and women's [[100 metres]] sprint at the [[Tuvalu at the World Championships in Athletics|World Championships in Athletics]] from 2009.

The [[Tuvalu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee]] (TASNOC) was recognised as a National Olympic Committee in July 2007. Tuvalu entered the Olympic Games for the first time at the [[Tuvalu at the 2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Summer Games]] in Beijing, China, with a weightlifter and two athletes in the men's and women's 100 metres sprint. A team with athletes in the same events represented [[Tuvalu at the 2012 Summer Olympics]].<ref name="TPB 2812">{{cite web |work=London 2012 – Tuvalu in the 30th Olympiad of the Modern Era |title=Tuvalu Philatelic Bureau Newsletter (TPB: 02/2012) |date=7 August 2012 |url=http://stampsoftuvalu.com/ |access-date=7 March 2013 |archive-date=30 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330024756/http://www.stampsoftuvalu.com/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Etimoni Timuani]] was the sole representative of Tuvalu at the [[2016 Summer Olympics]] in the 100m event.<ref name="RS16">{{cite magazine |magazine=Rolling Stone |title=The Underdogs: 15 Olympic Athletes That Could Shock the World |date=5 August 2016 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/sports/pictures/15-olympic-athletes-that-could-shock-the-world-w432770/etimoni-timuani-w432836 |access-date=5 August 2016}}</ref> [[Karalo Maibuca]] and [[Matie Stanley]] represented Tuvalu at the [[Tuvalu at the 2020 Summer Olympics|2020 Summer Olympics]] in the 100m events.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MAIBUCA Karalo Hepoiteloto |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/athletics/athlete-profile-n1377488-maibuca-karalo-hepoiteloto.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=24 July 2021 |work=[[Tokyo 2020 Olympics]] |archive-date=15 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815113436/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/athletics/athlete-profile-n1377488-maibuca-karalo-hepoiteloto.htm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=STANLEY Matie |url=https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/athletics/athlete-profile-n1851656-stanley-matie.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=24 July 2021 |work=[[Tokyo 2020 Olympics]] |language=en-us |archive-date=2 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802090910/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/athletics/athlete-profile-n1851656-stanley-matie.htm}}</ref> Tuvalu sent a team to the [[Tuvalu at the 2023 Pacific Games|2023 Pacific Games]]. Tuvalu was represented in athletic events at the [[2024 Summer Olympics]] by Karalo Maibuca in the men's 100 metres,<ref>{{Cite web |title=MAIBUCA Karalo Hepoiteloto |url=https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/karalo-hepoiteloto-maibuca_1897299 |work=[[Paris 2024 Olympics]] |access-date=3 August 2024}}</ref> and Temalini Manatoa in the women's 100 metres.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MANATOA Temalini |url=https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/temalini-manatoa_1897307 |access-date=3 August 2024 |work=[[Paris 2024 Olympics]]}}</ref>