Commonwealth Games

Categories: Athletics | Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event held every four years involving the elite athletes of The Commonwealth. The first such event, then known as the British Empire Games, was held in 1930. The name changed to British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, to British Commonwealth Games in 1970 and assumed the current name of the Commonwealth Games in 1978.

As well as many Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball.

Unlike other regional games of this type (i.e., Pan-American Games, Asian Games, All-Africa Games) which usually attract second-tier athletes, the Commonwealth Games attracts the top athletes of member nations of the Commonwealth, thus making this competition world-rate in the true sense of the word (second only to the Olympic Games). Attendance is typically around 5,000 athletes, which puts these games in third place behind the Olympics and the World Police & Fire Games.

The four constituent countries of the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games, and individual teams are also sent from crown dependencies such as the Isle of Man and Jersey.

Only six nations have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.

1 Origins
2 Opening Ceremony Traditions
3 Boycotts
4 Editions
5 List of Sports at the Commonwealth Games
- 5.1 2006 Commonwealth Games
- 5.2 Events on hiatus
6 See also
7 External links

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Origins

A sporting competition bringing together the members of the British Empire was first proposed by Reverend Astley Cooper in 1891 when he wrote an article in The Times suggesting a "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival every four years as a means of increasing the goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire".

In 1911, the Festival of the Empire was held in London to celebrate the coronation of King George V. As part of the festival an Inter-Empire Championships was held in which teams from Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom competed in events such as boxing, wrestling, swimming and athletics.

In 1928, Bobby Robinson of Canada was asked to organize the first British Empire Games. These were held in Hamilton two years later.

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Opening Ceremony Traditions

From 1930 through 1950, the parade of nations was lead by a single flagbearer carrying the Union Jack, symbolizing Britain's leading role in the British Empire.

Since 1958, there has been a relay of athletes carrying a baton from Buckingham Palace to the Opening Ceremony. This baton has within it the Queen's Message of Greeting to the athletes. The baton's final bearer is usually a famous sporting personage of the host nation.

All other nations march in alphabetical order, except that The first nation marching in the Parade of Athletes is the host nation of the previous games, and the host nation of the current games marches last.

Three national flags fly from the stadium on the poles that are used for medal ceremonies: Previous host nation, Current host nation, Next host nation.

The Military is more active in the Opening Ceremony than in the Olympic Games. This is to honour the British Military traditions of the Old Empire.

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Boycotts

The Commonwealth Games, like the Olympic Games, has also suffered from political boycotts. Nigeria boycotted the 1978 Games in protest of New Zealand's sporting contacts with apartheid-era South Africa, and 32 of 59 nations from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean boycotted the 1986 Games due to the Thatcher government's attitude to South African sporting contacts. Boycotts were also threatened in 1974, 1982, and 1990 because of South Africa.

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Editions

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The Empire Games flag was donated in 1930 by the British Empire Games Association of Canada. The year and location of subsequent games were added until the 1950 games. The name of the event was changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and the flag was retired as a result.

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British Commonwealth Games seal

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Commonwealth Games Federation seal, adopted in 2001

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List of Sports at the Commonwealth Games

The current regulations state that a minimum of ten and no more than fifteen sports must be included in a Commonweath Games schedule. There is a list of core sports, which must be included, and a further list of approved sports from which the host nation choses which to include. The host nation may also apply for the inclusion of other team sports to the CGF General Assembly, like the Melbourne organising committee did with Basketball for the 2006 Games.

The current core sports consist of Athletics, Aquatics (swimming, diving and synchronised swimming), Lawn Bowls, Netball (for women) and Rugby sevens (for men). These will all remain core sports until at least the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The approved list of sports also includes archery, badminton, billiards and snooker, boxing, canoeing, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, judo, rowing, shooting, squash, table tennis, tennis, tenpin bowling, triathlon, weightlifting, wrestling and sailing. Some of these are often included in the programme, while others, like billiards and sailing, have not yet made it into the Games.

There is also a requirement to include some events for Elite Athletes with a Disability (EAD). This was introduced in the 2002 Games.

Below, the years in brackets show when the sports appeared at the games.

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