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Commonwealth Games Gain International Prominence
The Games which began with the celebration of King George V’s birthday, have today gained international recognition.
The idea of the commonwealth games 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 come 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 Robinson of Canada was asked to organise the first ever British Empire Games. These were held in Hamilton, Canada two years later.
Today the Commonwealth Games has become an international, multi-sport event which is held every four years and features competitions involving thousands of elite athletes from members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Like many Olympic sports, the Games also include some sports that are played mainly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls, rugby sevens and netball. The Games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. The host city is selected from across the Commonwealth, with eighteen cities in seven countries having hosted it.
The event was first held in 1930 under the title of the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The event was renamed as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, the British Commonwealth Games in 1970, and gained its current title in 1978. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Australia has been the highest achieving team for ten games, England for seven and Canada for one.
There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and 71 teams participate in the Games. The four Home Nations of the United Kingdom – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games. The most recent games were in 2006 in Melbourne, Australia. The next edition will be held in 2010 in New Delhi, India, from October 3 to 14.
Fred VUBEM TOH
