Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

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The Commonwealth Games is a multinational, multi-sport event. Held every four years, it involves the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. Attendance at the Commonwealth Games is typically around 5,000 athletes. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is the organisation that is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games.

The first such event, then known as the British Empire Games, was held in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 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 1974.

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.

There are currently 53 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and 71 teams participate in the Games. The four constituent countries of the United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games (unlike at the Olympic Games, where the United Kingdom sends a single team), and individual teams are also sent from the British Crown dependencies - Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man - and many of the British overseas territories. The Australian external territory of Norfolk Island also sends its own team, as do the Cook Islands and Niue, two non-sovereign states in free association with New Zealand.

Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest scoring team for ten games, England for seven and Canada for one.

At the 1930 games, women competed in Swimming and Diving only. In 1934 women competed in some Athletics events also.

Contents

Origins

A sporting competition bringing together the members of the British Empire was first proposed by the 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, Melville Marks (Bobby) Robinson of Canada was asked to organise the first British Empire Games. These were held in Hamilton, Ontario two years later.

Opening ceremony traditions

  • From 1930 through 1950, the parade of nations was led by a single flagbearer carrying the Union Flag, symbolising 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 English 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. In 2006 countries marched in alphabetical order in geographical regions.
  • 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.

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 Commonwealth Games due to the Thatcher government's attitude towards South African sporting contacts. Boycotts were also threatened in 1974, 1982, and 1990 because of South Africa.

All time medal table

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Australia Australia 643 556 508 1707
2 England England 579 553 563 1695
3 Canada Canada 374 402 412 1188
4 New Zealand New Zealand 124 168 238 525
5 India India 104 90 72 266
6 South Africa South Africa 92 92 96 280
7 Scotland Scotland 82 94 153 329
8 Kenya Kenya 59 47 56 162
9 Wales Wales 47 71 96 214
10 Jamaica Jamaica 40 30 35 105
11 Nigeria Nigeria 37 48 57 142
12 Malaysia Malaysia / Malaya 36 48 51 135
13 Pakistan Pakistan 21 17 16 54
14 Northern Ireland 17 23 38 78
15 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka / Ceylon Ceylon 16 19 19 54
16 Ghana Ghana 15 17 187 50
17 Singapore Singapore 13 9 18 40
18 Uganda Uganda 10 12 17 39
19 Nauru Nauru 9 6 11 26
20 Cameroon Cameroon 9 5 7 21
21 Cyprus Cyprus 9 5 6 20
22 Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago 8 13 17 38
23 Bahamas Bahamas 8 9 9 26
24 Tanzania Tanzania 6 6 9 21
25 Hong Kong Hong Kong 5 2 7 14
26 Zimbabwe Zimbabwe / Rhodesia Rhodesia 3 6 12 21
27 Zambia Zambia 3 5 14 22
28 Fiji Fiji 3 4 5 12
29 Namibia Namibia 3 2 7 12
30 Guyana Guyana / British Guiana 2 5 6 13
31 Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea 2 4 2 8
32 Barbados Barbados 2 3 4 9
33 Isle of Man Isle of Man 2 1 4 7
34 Mozambique Mozambique 2 1 1 4
35 Bangladesh Bangladesh 2 1 0 3
36 Mauritius Mauritius 1 4 3 8
37 Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia 1 2 4 7
38 Bermuda Bermuda 1 2 2 5
39 Lesotho Lesotho 1 1 1 3
40 Jersey Jersey 1 0 3 4
41 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1 0 1 2
42 Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 0 0 1
43 Botswana Botswana 0 3 4 7
44 Guernsey Guernsey 0 3 2 5
45 Rhodesia and Nyasaland 0 2 5 7
46 Seychelles Seychelles 0 2 3 5
47 Samoa Samoa 0 1 3 4
47 Swaziland Swaziland 0 1 3 4
49 Rhodesia Rhodesia 0 1 2 3
50 Grenada Grenada 0 1 0 1
51 Malawi Malawi 0 0 3 3
52 Malta Malta 0 0 2 2
53 Cayman Islands Cayman Islands 0 0 1 1
53 Gambia Gambia 0 0 1 1
53 Norfolk Island Norfolk Island 0 0 1 1
53 Saint Lucia Saint Lucia 0 0 1 1
53 Tonga Tonga 0 0 1 1

Numbers of athletes, sports, and nations

This list shows the total number of athletes, male and female, the number of sports they were selected to compete in, and the number of nations (including dependencies) competing.

Year Host city Athletes Male Female Sports Events Officials Nations
Commonwealth Games
2014 Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
2010 Delhi, India
2006 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia4071 162 247 2270 71
2002 Manchester, England, United Kingdom 3863 173 1784 72
1998 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia3638 15 1398 70
1994 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada2557 12 914 63
1990 Auckland, New Zealand 2073 10 205 700 55
1986 Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom 1662 10 165 461 27
1982 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 1580 12 143 45
1978 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 1475 1183336 11 126 481 47
British Commonwealth Games
1974 Christchurch, New Zealand 1276 977 299 10 121 372 38
1970 Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom 17441 1095 288 10 121 362 42
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
1966 Kingston, Jamaica 13161 854 196 10 110 266 34
1962 Perth, Western Australia, Australia 863 727 163 9 178 35
1958 Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom1122 967 163 9 228 35
1954 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 662 568 94 9 127 24
British Empire Games
1950 Auckland, New Zealand 590 495 95 9 73 12
1938 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 464 376 88 7 43 15
1934 London, England, United Kingdom 500 6 100 17
1930 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 400 6 50 11
Festival of Empire
1911London, England, United Kingdom 4 4

1Total including athletes and officials. 2Includes 4 team sports. 3Includes 3 team sports.[1]


Commonwealth nations/dependencies yet to send teams

Very few Commonwealth dependencies and nations have yet to take part.

  • Tokelau is expected to take part in the 2010 Games in Delhi.
  • The Pitcairn Islands' tiny population (50 as of July 2007) would appear to prevent the overseas territory from competing.
  • It is also conceivable that any future members of the Commonwealth such as applicants Rwanda Rwanda and Yemen Yemen may participate in future games.

Sports of the Commonwealth Games

The current regulations state that a minimum of ten and no more than fifteen sports must be included in a Commonwealth 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 may choose to include. The host nation may also apply for the inclusion of other team sports to the CGF General Assembly, as 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, sailing, shooting, squash, table tennis, tennis, ten-pin bowling, triathlon, weightlifting, and wrestling. Some of these are often included in the programme, while others, like billiards and sailing, have not yet been included.

In 2002, the CGF introduced the David Dixon Award for the outstanding athlete of 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.

On November 18, 2006, tennis and archery were added to the list of disciplines for the 2010 Games in New Delhi, bringing the total number of sports to 17. Billiards and snooker were considered but not accepted.


See also

Official games sites

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/Templates/Games_Results_StatisticsTable.htm Retrieved 2008-11-2.
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Commonwealth Games
British Empire Games:
1930 • 1934 • 1938 • 1950
British Empire and Commonwealth Games:
1954 • 1958 • 1962 • 1966
British Commonwealth Games:
1970 • 1974
Commonwealth Games:
1978 • 1982 • 1986 • 1990 • 1994 • 1998 • 2002 • 2006 • 2010 • 2014 • 2018
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