History of commonwealth games

Fireworks during the closing ceremony. Without global sporting powerhouses China, Russia and the US, the level of competition can be hit and miss. Photograph: Stephen Pond/Getty Images Fireworks during the closing ceremony. Without global sporting powerhouses China, Russia and the US, the level of competition can be hit and miss. Photograph: Stephen Pond/Getty Images N ext Tuesday marks the 92nd anniversary of the inaugural edition of the Spurred on by apparent grievances between the Canadian team and their American counterparts at the 1928 Olympics, the Canadian journalist Bobby Robinson set about establishing the imperial games – first hosted by his home town Hamilton in 1930. A small Australian team competed in those inaugural Games, bringing home three golds, four silvers and one bronze medal. Women were only permitted to compete in aquatic events and the Australian team was male-only. Viewed from a distance, almost a century later, the first Games seem remarkably anachronistic. This feeling is compounded when considering what happened next: the Australian team’s travel home was delayed after their ship, the RMS Tahiti, sank. A local newspaper reported the Australians were “perturbed” by this development, worried about losing their jobs back home as a result of the delay. Read more And yet 92 years later, the Commonwealth Games endure, with the curtain falling on the 22nd edition on Monday. Is there a future for what was once a thinly veiled celebration of colonialism?...

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In 1911, the Festival of Empire was held in London to celebrate the coronation of King George V. As part of the activities of the festivals, championships between Empires were done whereby teams from Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom were going up against each other in sports like boxing, wrestling, swimming and other types of sports. This first event involved 400 athletes from 11 different countries. In order to cover the costs of the trips for the athletes, the City of Hamilton has provided a fund of $30,000. The support for this concept came from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland with the decision to send the best team to Canada.

The Commonwealth Games have been a source of national pride for countries around the world since 1930. From athletes representing their countries in various sports to the various venues that have been the site of the Games, these events have seen some of the most memorable moments in sporting history. Here are 10 interesting facts about the Commonwealth Games that you may not have known. 1. The first games were held in Canada in 1930! The games have been around for a long time! They started in 1930. The first ever games were held in Hamilton, Canada. More to click... • • • However, they weren’t always known as the Commonwealth Games… 2. It used to be known as the British EmpireGames. The Commonwealth Games haven’t always been known as this. First of all it was known as the British Empire Games. In 1954 the name was changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. It was changed AGAIN to the British Commonwealth Games in 1970. Then, in 1978 the name was changed to what we know today… The Commonwealth Games! 3. The Commonwealth Games is being held in Birmingham in 2022! This year the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham! It will be happening between 28th July until 8th August 2022. The games have been held in the UK before including in Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester. 4. All people taking part have to be amateurs! All of the athletes taking part have to be amateurs. This means they are not paid to take part. They are all still very good at their cho...

In the 63 Commonwealth Games that have taken place since the inaugural tournament in Ontario, Canada in 1930, more than 10,000 medals have already been won. South African swimmer, Australia have topped the medal table at 11 Games, England seven and Canada one, but the last time Britain hosted the event on home soil, at Glasgow 2014, England unseated the Aussies from top spot for the first time since 1994. But which nations and territories top the table of all-time Commonwealth Games medallists? The rankings below were compiled after day four of the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham, England, and are ranked by number of gold medals won by nation. Read more: Have a look at the You can follow all the action during Birmingham 2022 via our live updates blog at Commonwealth Games all-time medal table 1 Australia Gold 963 Silver 795 Bronze 729 Total 2,487 2 England Gold 735 Silver 737 Bronze 726 Total 2,198 3 Canada Gold 490 Silver 527 Bronze 571 Total 1,588 4 India Gold 184 Silver 176 Bronze 152 Total 512 5 New Zealand Gold 172 Silver 227 Bronze 288 Total 681 6 South Africa Gold 135 Silver 126 Bronze 140 Total 401 7 Scotland Gold, 121 Silver 140 Bronze 213 Total 474 8 Kenya Gold 85 Silver 76 Bronze 78 Total 239 9 Nigeria Gold 72 Silver 75 Bronze 93 Total 240 10 Wales Gold 68 Silver 100 Bronze 148 Total 316 11 Malaysia Gold 61 Silver 67 Bronze 83 Total 211 12 Jamaica Gold 59 Silver 47 Bronze 55 Total 161 13 Singapore Gold 37 Silver 29 Bronze 32 Total 98 14 Northern Ireland Go...

On July 28, the 2022 Commonwealth Games officially opened in Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is the 22nd edition of the competition. This is the third time that England has hosted the Commonwealth Games after London in 1930 and Manchester in 2002, and the seventh edition to take place in the UK. With 72 different nations and territories competing for glory this time around, the 2022 games are set to be the biggest ever with 280 different events across 20 sports scheduled to take place over a two-week period. What is the Commonwealth? Established via a formal constitution in 1949, the Commonwealth, or the Commonwealth of Nations, is a political association that currently has 56 member states. The link between those nations is that the majority of them use to be former territories of the British Empire. What is the Commonwealth Games? The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport competition that takes place every four years with certain nations invited to take part. The 56 member states of the Commonwealth are invited to participate alongside 18 other territories who do not compete separately in the Olympics but compete in the Commonwealth Games under their own flags. Similarly, Team GB, who take part in the Olympics, are split into 14 separate teams during the Commonwealth Games. Those are the four home nations, three crown dependencies and all but three inhabited overseas territories. The first Commonwealth Games took place in Hamilton, Canada back in 1930 with the 2022 competit...

With the Commonwealth being home to almost one third of the world’s population, its Games have featured some of the greatest athletes in history. Track and field legends such as Don Quarrie, Kip Keino, Raelene Boyle and Daley Thompson have graced this unique sporting festival. Classic moments include Filbert Bayi’s gun-to-tape world 1500m record in 1974, the Roger Bannister versus John Landy ‘miracle mile’ of 1954, plus Jim Peters’ dramatic collapse at the end of the marathon at the same Vancouver Games 60 years ago. Yet this is despite a humble beginning that saw only 11 nations and 131 track and field athletes take part in the first Games in 1930, in addition to a catalogue of financial problems and political challenges, not to mention the crumbling nature of the very British Empire that the Games were created to celebrate. “The most remarkable feature of the Commonwealth Games is that they should exist at all,” Bob Phillips wrote in Honour of Empire, Glory of Sport – the History of Athletics at the Commonwealth Games. “Their failure has been anticipated more than once … and yet they still find an established place both in the sporting calendar and in our hearts and minds.” The enduring nature of the Commonwealth Games and its ability to survive for the past 84 years is undoubtedly due to its spirit of sportsmanship and fair play. It has been nicknamed the Friendly Games and the origins for this stem back to the inaugural event when Bobby Robinson, the Canadian athletics...