We have now surpassed the landmark of 100 days to go until the start of the twenty-second edition of the Commonwealth Games. The English Midlands City of Birmingham will play host 5,054 athletes, from 72 national teams, across 283 events from 20 different sports. The opening ceremony is on the 28th of July, with the curtain coming down on the 8th of August. This will be the latest version of a multi-sports festival that dates back to 1930.
The first ever edition of the Commonwealth Games went by a different name. The British Empire Games were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This was a much smaller edition to what we will see in Birmingham this summer. Only 400 athletes competed in 59 events, across six sports. In this inaugural festival only 11 national teams came to Canada; Australia, Bermuda, British Guiana, England, Ireland, Newfoundland (who would later compete as part of Canada), New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. The sports were Aquatics (Diving and Swimming), Athletics, Boxing, Lawn Bowls, Rowing and Wrestling. Women were included in this festival, but only in the aquatic events and were, in fact, hosted in a different accommodation venue to their male counterparts. Since then, the Games have been held on four year cycles, with only the 1942 (Vancouver, Canada) and 1946 (Cardiff, Wales) editions being cancelled due to the Second World War.
The Canadian City of Vancouver got their chance to host their Games in 1954, by which time the name had changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. This was the fifth edition of the festival, which saw the ‘Miracle Mile’, where Englishman Roger Bannister and Australian John Landy both ran sub-four-minute races, in an event that was televised on live television across the world, for the first time ever. Here, Northern Rhodesia and Pakistan also made their debuts in Commonwealth Games competitions. With further changes to social values happening over the years, there was further etymological changes to the name of the Games. By the time of the ninth edition in 1970, hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland, we were referring to it as the British Commonwealth Games, with the British reference finally being dropped by 1978, Edmonton, Canada.
There have been several controversies over the years, primarily centred around the Apartheid policies of South Africa. The second edition of the British Empire Games were originally awarded to Johannesburg, but was relocated to London. This was because the South African Government refused to allow participants of colour to compete. Nigeria boycotted the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, due to fellow competitive nation New Zealand’s contacts with apartheid-era South Africa. Eight years later, there were similar protests over the 1986 Scottish hosting of the Commonwealth Games hosted in Edinburgh, due to the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s support of South Africa at the time. This meant that thirty-two of the fifty-nine eligible countries, who were primarily from Caribbean, Asian and African nations, boycotted the competitions and saw the lowest number of participants turn up since 1950.
The Commonwealth Games has been dominated by the more financially secure and developed countries, sometimes referred to as ‘Western Nations’. This can be seen by where the host cities and nations have been located. Birmingham 2022 will be the seventh Games hosted in the United Kingdom (England, 1934, 2002, 2022; Scotland, 1970, 1986, 2014; Wales, 1958). Australia have hosted five Commonwealth Games, Canada four, with New Zealand hosting three Games. The Asian continent have only hosted the Games twice, once in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998 and then in the Indian Capital City of New Delhi, in 2010. The Caribbean have only hosted the Games once and an African city has never been selected. This dominance can also be seen in the medal tables, however, this has seen a bit more of a global distribution. Australia, England and Canada, perhaps unsurprisingly due to their financial capabilities, have won more medals than any other Commonwealth nation. However, Asia and Africa are represented in the all-time top ten by India, South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
There have been several notable athletes over the years. The famous English actor Jason Statham has, actually, quite a strong sporting background. A participant in football, kickboxing and martial arts, he was also involved in aquatic sports. He represented England in the Diving events at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. Australia’s most famous swimmer Ian Thorpe has won 10 gold and a silver medal, across two Commonwealth Games, in 1998 and 2002. Belfast born, Northern Irishman, David Calvert holds the record of attending the most Commonwealth Games, attending every festival between 1978 and 2018. Born in 1951, he is a shooter and has won four gold and four bronze medals. Scottish lawn bowler, Willie Wood and Isle of Man cyclist Andrew Roche have both competed in seven Games.
The 22nd Commonwealth Games will be held in Birmingham, England between the 28th of July and the 8th of August. The main venue has been announced as the Alexander Stadium, which will see the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics events. A variety of other venues will host sports across the region. The Edgbaston Cricket Ground is already a well known venue that will make an obvious choice for the T20 events. The Arena Birmingham and NEC Arena are both multi-purpose event halls, which will show the gymnastics and netball respectively. The University of Birmingham will host the squash and the field hockey, sports that I’m looking forward to watching myself. Tickets are now on sale.
