The Falkland Islands will send a team of 26 to this year's Gold Coast Commonwealth Games ©FICGA

The Falkland Islands will send a team of 26 competitors and officials to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games - including the hugely experienced shooter Saul Pitaluga and badminton player Doug Clark.

In announcing the team for the event that will take place in Australia from April 4 to 15, Andy Brownlee, the Falkland Islands Commonwealth Games Association (FICGA) President, made special mention of "the hugely significant contribution" the two men had made "in representing the Falkland Islands in shooting and badminton at the Commonwealth Games for more than two decades".

Brownlee added: "Saul first represented the Falkland Islands in 1994 in Victoria, Canada, so Gold Coast 2018 will be his seventh Commonwealth Games.

"Doug first represented the Falkland Islands in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but missed the 2006 Games, so the forthcoming Games will be his fifth, a considerable achievement from both gentlemen and FICGA thank them for their contribution and dedication to Falklands sport."

Saul Pitaluga, pictured competing in the trap shooting at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, has been selected by the Falkland Islands to make his seventh Commonwealth appearance at the Gold Coast Games in April ©Getty Images
Saul Pitaluga, pictured competing in the trap shooting at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, has been selected by the Falkland Islands to make his seventh Commonwealth appearance at the Gold Coast Games in April ©Getty Images

Pitaluga, a fifth-generation islander, will compete in the trap events.

The Falkland Islands, which has one of the smallest populations of all the competing teams at 2,400, has taken part in every Commonwealth Games since making its debut in 1982, just months after the Falklands War.

There were 23 Falklands Islands competitors at the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, taking part in badminton, shooting and lawn bowls.

The Falkland Islands have not won any medals yet, but they can boast an Olympic champion in Louis Baillon, a member of the British team that won hockey gold at the 1908 London Games.