April 1, 2006

The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event held every four years involving the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. 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.

Like Olympics, the Games include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. There are currently 53 Commonwealth nations and 71 participating teams. Around 5,000 athletes participate in the Commonwealth Games, which makes it one of the largest international sporting events in terms of participants.

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 the British Crown Dependencies — Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man — and many of the British overseas territories.

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

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 Championship 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 organize 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 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 personality of the host nation.

In the Parade of Nations, all the nations march in English alphabetical order, except that the host nation of the previous games marches at the first position, and the host nation of the current games marches last. In 2006, the 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 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.

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 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 chooses which to include. The host nation may also apply for the inclusion of other team sports to the CGF General Assembly, like the Melbourne organizing committee did with basketball for the 2006 Games.

The current core sports consist of athletics, aquatics (swimming, diving and synchronized 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 been approved.

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

David Dixon Award for the outstanding athelete was introduced from the 2002 Games.

2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Australia between March 15 and March 26. It was the largest sporting event ever to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics.

The site for the opening and closing ceremonies was the Melbourne Cricket Ground which was also used during Melbourne’s 1956 Olympic Games.

The mascot for the games was Karak[2], a Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (a threatened species).

For the first time ever, the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games appointed a Goodwill Partner, Plan International Australia.

Sports
The 2006 Commonwealth Games included 16 sports, with 12 individual sports and four team sports. In total there are 247 events at the Games. Four of these sports are further broken down into separate disciplines, making a total of 24 disciplines:

Aquatics: diving, swimming, synchronized swimming.
Cycling: track, road, mountain bike.
Gymnastics: artistic, rhythmic.
Shooting: clay target, pistol, small bore and air rifle, full bore rifle.

The athletics, swimming, table tennis and weightlifting sports include fully integrated events for elite athletes with a disability (EAD). These events are included in the official medal tally.

Impact on host nation
Concerns arose about the large cost of staging the Games, with projected costs likely to be over one billion Australian dollars and a high likelihood that the state government will have to cover the expenses. The cost has been described in local media as excessive for what many regard as a non-premier sports event.

Melbourne’s premier sporting ground, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), was redeveloped in preparation for the Games. An athlete’s village in the inner suburb of Parkville housed approximately 7,000 athletes and support staff during the Games, it will later be turned into commercial housing with a distinctly eco-friendly image. The creation of this village has attracted controversy, with critics claiming it was created by alienating public parkland, while proponents maintain that it represents the renewal of an otherwise derelict inner-city area.

State and private schools amended their usual term times, so as to allow the first term end-of-term holidays to coincide with the Games. This severely disrupted the timetable for the VCE leaving many students under more stress than is usually expected at this time.

Melbourne’s public transport system — train, tram and bus— in some cases, ran to altered timetables and some amended or substituted services, for the duration of the Games. For the most part, timetabled services were unchanged but suffered due to higher loads.

 

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