Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and has taken place every four years ever since (except 1942 and 1946 which were cancelled). The Games are described as the third largest multi-sport event in the world after the Olympic Games and the Asian Games^{[citation needed]}.

It was initially known as the British Empire Games and was renamed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954 and the British Commonwealth Games in 1970, before finally gaining its current title, the Commonwealth Games, for the 1978 edition. The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. A host city is selected for each edition and eighteen cities in seven countries have hosted the event.

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.^[1] Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest achieving team for eleven games, England for seven and Canada for one.

Although there are 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, 71 teams participate in the Commonwealth Games as a number of British overseas territories, Crown dependencies, and island states compete under their own flag. The four Home Nations of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – also send separate teams.

History [edit]

Flag of the British Commonwealth
Games 1978-1998

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 Robinson of Canada was asked to organise the first British Empire Games. The first Games were 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 1978.^[2]

At the 1930 games, women competed in the swimming events only.^[3] From 1934, women also competed in some athletics events.^{[citation needed]}

The Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were held alongside the Commonwealth Games from 1962 to 1974.^[4] In the regular Commonwealth Games, athletes with a disability were first included in exhibition events at the 1994 Victoria, Canada Games.^[5] At the 2002 Manchester Games they were included as full members of their national teams, making them the first fully inclusive international multi-sport games. This meant that results were included in the medal count.^[6]

The Empire Games flag was donated in 1931 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.

• Commonwealth Winter Games
• Commonwealth Youth Games

Editions [edit]

      Countries that have hosted, or plan to host, the event
      Other countries that enter the games
      Countries that have entered the games but no longer do so
0•0 Host cities and year of games

The first edition of the event was the 1930 British Empire Games and eleven nations took part. The quadrennial schedule of the games was interrupted by the Second World War and the 1942 Games (set to be held in Montreal) and the 1946 Games were abandoned.^[7] The games were continued in 1950 and underwent a name change four years later with the first British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954.^[2] Over 1000 athletes participated in the 1958 Games as over thirty teams took part for the first time.^[8]

The event was briefly known as the British Commonwealth Games for the 1970 and 1974 editions and the 1978 Games, held in Edmonton, Canada, were the first to be held under the title of the "Commonwealth Games".^[2] The Edmonton event marked a new high as almost 1500 athletes from 46 countries took part.^[8]

Nigeria was the first country to boycott the Commonwealth Games in 1978 in protest over New Zealand's sporting contacts with South Africa. Participation at the 1986 Games was affected by a boycott by 32 African and Caribbean nations in protest to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's refusal to condemn sporting contacts of Apartheid era South Africa in 1985, but the Games rebounded and continued to grow thereafter. The 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia saw the sporting programme grow from 10 to 15 sports as team sports were allowed for the first time.^[2] Participation also reached new levels as over 3500 athletes represented 70 teams at the event. At the Games in Melbourne in 2006, over 4000 athletes took part in sporting competitions.^[8]

The three nations to have hosted the games the most number of times are Australia (5), Canada (4) and New Zealand (3). Furthermore, six editions have taken place, or will take place, in the countries within the United Kingdom (Scotland 3, England 2 and Wales 1). Two cities have held the games on multiple occasions: Auckland (1950 and 1990), and Edinburgh (1970 and 1986).

Edition	Year	Host City	Host Nation	Start Date	End Date	Sports	Events	Nations	Competitors
British Empire Games
I	1930	Hamilton	Canada	16 August	23 August	6	59	11	400
II	1934	London	England	4 August	11 August	6	68	16	500
III	1938	Sydney	Australia	5 February	12 February	7	71	15	464
IV	1950	Auckland	New Zealand	4 February	11 February	9	88	12	590
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
V	1954	Vancouver	Canada	30 July	7 August	9	91	24	662
VI	1958	Cardiff	Wales	18 July	26 July	9	94	36	1122
VII	1962	Perth	Australia	22 November	1 December	9	104	35	863
VIII	1966	Kingston	Jamaica	4 August	13 August	9	110	34	1050
British Commonwealth Games
IX	1970	Edinburgh	Scotland	16 July	25 July	9	121	42	1383
X	1974	Christchurch	New Zealand	24 January	2 February	9	121	38	1276
Commonwealth Games
XI	1978	Edmonton	Canada	3 August	12 August	10	128	46	1474
XII	1982	Brisbane	Australia	30 September	9 October	10	142	46	1583
XIII	1986	Edinburgh	Scotland	24 July	2 August	10	163	26	1662
XIV	1990	Auckland	New Zealand	24 January	3 February	10	204	55	2073
XV	1994	Victoria	Canada	18 August	28 August	10	217	63	2557
XVI	1998	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	11 September	21 September	15	213	70	3633
XVII	2002	Manchester	England	25 July	4 August	171	281	72	3679
XVIII	2006	Melbourne	Australia	15 March	26 March	162	245	71	4049
XIX	2010	Delhi	India	3 October	14 October	173	272	71	6700
XX	2014	Glasgow	Scotland	23 July	3 August
XXI	2018	Gold Coast City	Australia	4 April	15 April
XXII	2022	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

Notes

¹Includes 3 team sports ²Includes 4 team sports ³Includes 3 team sports

Total Commonwealth Games by country [edit]

Rank	Country	Region	Editions hosted
1	Australia	Oceania	5 (1938, 1962, 1982, 2006, 2018)
2	Canada	Americas	4 (1930, 1954, 1978, 1994)
3	New Zealand	Oceania	3 (1950, 1974, 1990)
	Scotland	Europe	3 (1970, 1986, 2014)
5	England	Europe	2 (1934, 2002)
6	India	Asia	1 (2010)
	Malaysia	Asia	1 (1998)
	Jamaica	Caribbean	1 (1966)
	Wales	Europe	1 (1958)

Approved sports [edit]

There are a total of 21 sports (with two multi-disciplinary sports) and a further seven para-sports which are approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation. They are categorised into three types. Core sports must be included on each programme. A number of optional sports may be picked by the host nation, which may include some team sports such as basketball. Recognised sports are sports which have been approved by the CGF but which are deemed to need expansion; host nations may not pick these sports for their programme until the CGF's requirements are fulfilled.^[9]

Participation [edit]

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

Notes:

1. ^ Aden later renamed South Arabia, left the Commonwealth in 1968.
2. ^ Anguilla was completely separated from Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla in 1980 and remaining Saint Kitts and Nevis became independent from the United Kingdom in 1983.
3. ^ British Guiana was renamed Guyana in 1966.
4. ^ British Honduras was renamed Belize in 1973.
5. ^ Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972.
6. ^ Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth and Games in 2009.^[11]
7. ^ Gold Coast (British colony) was renamed Ghana in 1957.
8. ^ Including neighbouring Islands.
9. ^ Hong Kong left the Commonwealth when handed over to China in 1997.
10. ^ Ireland was represented as a team from the whole of Ireland in 1930, and from both the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland in 1934. The Irish Free State was renamed Republic of Ireland in 1937 (but also known by its name in Irish Éire), formally left the Commonwealth when it declared that it was a Republic on 1 January 1949.
11. ^ Contemporary illustrations show Green Flag used for the Irish team.
12. ^ Zimbabwe competed from 1958–1962 as part of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
13. ^ Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore federated as Malaysia in 1963. Singapore left the federation in 1965.
14. ^ Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949.
15. ^ The Ulster Banner was the flag of the former Government of Northern Ireland only between 1953 and 1972, but the flag has been regarded as flag of Northern Ireland since 1924 among unionists and loyalists. In the Commonwealth Games, it is used also as flag of Northern Ireland.
16. ^ Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia federated with Nyasaland in 1953 as Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which dissolved at the end of 1963.
17. ^ Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia competed separately from 1953.
18. ^ Under the name of "Saint Helena" in the Commonwealth Games.^[12] Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha were dependencies of Saint Helena, so the territory was officially called "Saint Helena and Dependencies" until 2009. Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha became equal parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in 2009.
19. ^ Western Samoa was renamed Samoa in 1997.
20. ^ Zanzibar and Tanganyika federated to form Tanzania in 1964.
21. ^ Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2003.

Commonwealth nations/dependencies/disputed territories yet to send teams [edit]

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

• Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, former dependencies of Saint Helena and current parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, has never formed their own teams independent from the Saint Helena team.
• Other states, territories and territorial autonomies with native populations within the Commonwealth that may be eligible include Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (territories of Australia), Nevis (a federal entity of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis), Rodrigues (outer islands of Mauritius), and Zanzibar (a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania).
• Cornwall, represented by the Cornwall Commonwealth Games Association (CCGA), sent a bid for participation in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, however, their application was rejected by the CGF, who stated that the constitutional status of Cornwall was not an issue that should be resolved through this medium. However, in 2010, the CCGA sought to launch a legal challenge to the decision of the CGF, stating that the Cornish bid of 2006 fulfilled the entire criterion of the CGF, and by rejecting the bid, the CGF had violated their own code, failing to follow their own criteria for participation. The Cornwall team will therefore seek competition in the 2014 games.^[13]
• The British Indian Ocean Territory currently has no permanent population although there is a sizeable population who were born in the BIOT but currently live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom and so would be eligible to compete on birth criteria.
• Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has made applications to the CGF to send teams.
• South Sudan is likely to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.^[14]
• It is also conceivable that any future members of the Commonwealth such as applicants (for example Sudan and Yemen) may participate in future games. The Colony of Aden and Federation of South Arabia, precursors to modern Yemen, participated before in 1962 and in 1966. Sudan was an Anglo-Egyptian protectorate until independence in 1956.
• The Pitcairn Islands' tiny population (currently 50 to 60 people) would appear to prevent this British overseas territory from competing.
• Tokelau was expected to take part in the 2010 Games in Delhi but did not do so.
• The lack of a permanent population would seem to prevent the British overseas territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and British Antarctic Territory, the New Zealand territory of Ross Dependency and the Australian external territories of Australian Antarctic Territory, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Coral Sea Islands and Heard Island and McDonald Islands from competing.

Notable competitors [edit]

Lawn bowler Willie Wood from Scotland is the first competitor to have competed in seven Commonwealth Games, from 1974 to 2002. Also, Greg Yelavich, a sports shooter from New Zealand, has won 12 medals in seven games from 1986 to 2010.

See also [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Commonwealth Games

• All-time medal tally of Commonwealth Games
• All-Africa Games
• Asian Games
• Commonwealth Mountain and Ultradistance Running Championships
• Indian Empire Games
• Jeux de la Francophonie
• Kingdom Games
• Lusophony Games
• Mediterranean Games
• Olympic Games
• Pan American Games
• Universiade
• World Games

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Commonwealth Games Official Website
• Statistics (1911 to 2006)
• Flags and emblems of the Commonwealth Games – evolution of the emblems of the Games