Commonwealth Games 

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Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games Federation seal, adopted in 2001


Motto HUMANITY - EQUALITY - DESTINY
First Event 1930
Occur every four years
Last Event 2006
Purpose Sporting event for the Commonwealth of Nations
Headquarters London, UK
Leader Commonwealth Secretariat:
Hon. Michael Fennell OJ, CD
Website Commonwealth Games Federation

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.

Locations of the games, and participating countries

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

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

Note 1: Total here lower than total on country page Australia at the Commonwealth Games.

Editions

British Empire Games

British Empire and Commonwealth Games

British Commonwealth Games

Flag of the
British Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

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.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Year Athletes Male Female Sports Events Officials Nations
2006 4500 162 247 71
2002 3863 173 72
1998 3638 15 70
1994 2669 12 63
1990 2073 10 205 55
1986 1660 10 165 27
1982 1580 12 143 45
1978 1475 11 126 47
1974 1276 977 299 10 121 372 38
1970 17441 10 121 42
1966 13161 10 110 34
1962 863 9 178 35
1958 1122 9 228 35
1954 662 9 127 24
1950 590 495 95 9 12
1938 464 7 43 15
1934 500 6 17
1930 400 6 11

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

List of nations/dependencies to compete

Nations/dependencies that have competed

Notes:

1: Aden became South Arabia which left the Commonwealth in 1968.
2: Became Guyana in 1966.
3: Became Belize in 1973.
4: Became Sri Lanka in 1972.
5: Became Ghana in 1957.
6: Left the Commonwealth when handed over to China in 1997.
7: Ireland was represented as the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland in 1934. The Irish Free State, renamed Ireland in 1937 (but also known by its name in the Irish Eire) formally left the Commonwealth when it declared that it was a Republic on January 1 1949.
8: Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore federated as Malaysia in 1963. Singapore left the federation in 1965.
9: Joined Canada in 1949.
10: Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia federated with Nyasaland from 1953 as Rhodesia and Nyasaland which lasted till 1963.
11: Divided into Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia in 1953.
12: Competed from 1958-1962 as part of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
13: Zanzibar and Tanganyika federated to form Tanzania in 1964.
14: Withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2003.

Commonwealth nations/dependencies yet to send teams

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

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.citation needed

On 18th November 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.

List of approved sports

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

See also

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Commonwealth Games

External links

Official games sites

Countries

v • d • e
Commonwealth Games
British Empire Games:
1930 · 1934 · 1938 · 1950
British Empire and Commonwealth Games:
1954 · 1958 · 1962 · 1966
British Commonwealth Games:
Commonwealth Games:
1978 · 1982 · 1986 · 1990 · 1994 · 1998 · 2002 · 2006 · 2010 · 2014 · 2018
v • d • e
Commonwealth Games Federation Logo Commonwealth Games host cities

1930: Hamilton • 1934: London • 1938: Sydney • 1950: Auckland • 1954: Vancouver • 1958: Cardiff • 1962: Perth • 1966: Kingston • 1970: Edinburgh •