Ahead of closing ceremonies today, organizers of the Canada 55 Plus Games in Kamloops say there have been ‘lots of positives’ from athletes this week.

The City of Kamloops welcomed around 3,000 athletes and coaches in 26 sports this week with events taking place at 28 venues across the Tournament Capital.

“They’ve all been excited with the competition, and we’re hearing lots of comments about how friendly Kamloopsians are which is great to hear,” Games Manager, Duncan Olthuis, said on the NL Noon Report.

“We’ve always been welcoming to these types of tournaments. Our citizens have been great, and they’ve been very accommodating to all these people from across Canada and it shines a great light on Kamloops for sure.”

Olthuis noted that while the games have been “a little different,” it has been a competitive few days in Kamloops.

“You’d thing that some events like track and field would wield a little bit more competitive, but there is lots of camaraderie in that and then you get into competitions like scrabble and duplicate bridge, they get a little bit more competitive with those ones,” he said.

Kamloops beat out Whitehorse, Calgary, and Fort McMurray to win the bid for the games in 2018, leading to an estimated $3.5 million in economic activity.

The games were originally set to be held in 2020 but postponed until this year due to COVID-19.

“I am so proud of the efforts of our original board and Sports Council staff who brought the Games literally to the brink of hosting – before the pandemic stopped us in our tracks in 2020,” Henry Pejril, the President and co-chair of the Kamloops Host Committee said.

“I’m particularly proud of and grateful to the many board members who have been able to remain to see this event through, in effect stretching our commitment to a full four years. We are so happy for the opportunity to once again showcase our city on a national scale.”

You’ll find a selection of pictures from the games here. For a full list of results from the games, go here.