Commonwealth Games By AM

In July 1881 the Rev. J. Astley Cooper wrote an article in the magazine Great Britain advocating a ‘Pan-Britannic Festival’ featuring military, literary and sporting activities. After some initial debate, the idea was forgotten until a Festival of Empire was held in 1911 at the Crystal Palace in London to commemorate the coronation of King George V. One of the features of the programme was an Empire sports meeting in which competitors from Britain, Australia and New Zealand, Canada and South Africa competed. Richard Coombes, who was managing the combined Australian and New Zealand team at the festival, strongly advocated the idea of regular Empire Games, but it was not adopted until after the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Here the friendship between the Empire athletes revived ideas of holding Empire sports contests. It was largely through the initiative of M. M. Robinson, manager of the Canadian team that the British Empire Games took definite shape in the form of a meeting at Hamilton, Canada in 1930.

At these games a British Empire Games Federation was mooted, and at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics further discussions resulted in the foundation of this Federation. The Empire meeting of athletes is designed on the Olympic model and is held every four years during the interval between Olympiads. The organising control is vested in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games Association of the host country. The technical control of the competitive events is in the hands of the national controlling unions of the various sports on the programme. The Games are open only to amateurs, as defined by the international federations governing the various sports, and participants must be British subjects, either born in the country they represent or having resided there for six months before the closing of entries. The Games can be contested by nations or dependencies that have severed ties with Britain. All remain members of the Games Association. Some 73 nations have competed in these games, Britain itself split up and is represented by teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. Below is a list of participating nations / dependencies over previous games

Aden Anguilla Antigua & Barbuda Australia Bahamas Bangladesh

Barbados Belize Bermuda Botswana British Virgin Is Brunei

Cameroon Canada Cayman Is Cook Island Cyprus Dominica

England Falkland Is Fiji Gambia Ghana Gibraltar

Grenada Guyana Hong Kong India Isle of Man Jamaica

Jersey Kenya Kiribati Lesotho Malawi Malaya

Malaysia Maldives Malta Mauritius Montserrat Mozambique

Namibia Nauru Newfoundland New Zealand Nigeria Niue

Norfolk Is Northern Ireland Pakistan Papua New Guinea St Helena St Kitts and Nevis

St Lucia St Vincent & Grenadines Sabah Scotland Seychelles Sierra Leone

Singapore Solomon Is South Africa South Arabia Sri Lanka Swaziland

Tanzania Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Turks & Caicos Is Tuvalu Uganda

Vanuatu Wales Western Samoa Zambia Zimbabwe

The first Games were held at Hamilton, Canada, in 1930 and they have been held every four years since then, except during WWII. The games have changed names three times :Empire games between 1930 and1950, to Empire and Commonwealth Games, from 1954 to 1966, and finally to Commonwealth Games since 1970. The host nation decides on the sports to be included. Team sports were not permitted.

The host nation has to set a programme of sports from an approved list of core sports and optional sports. They are allowed a minimum of 10 core sports and a maximum of 17 overall. The core sports are Aquatics (Swimming); Aquatics (Swimming Para); Athletics; Athletics (Para); Badminton; Boxing; Cycling (Road); Gymnastics (Artistic); Hockey; Judo; Lawn Bowls; Lawn bowls (Para); Netball (women only); Rugby Sevens; Squash; Table Tennis; Triathlon; Weightlifting; Powerlifting (Para); Wrestling (Freestyle). Quota positions shall be established for each compulsory sport. The total number of quota positions for compulsory sports (disciplines) shall not exceed 3,800 athletes. The host nation may also select optional sports (disciplines) from the approved list : Aquatics (Diving); Aquatics (Water Polo); Aquatics (Open Water Swimming); Archery (Recurve); Basketball 3x3; Basketball (Wheelchair Para 3x3); Canoe; Cricket; Cycling (Mountain Bike); Cycling (Track); Cycling (Track Para); Gymnastics (Rhythmic); Fencing; Sailing; Shooting (Clay Target); Shooting (Full Bore); Shooting (Pistol); Shooting (Small Bore); Softball; Table Tennis (Para); Taekwondo; Tennis; Ten Pin Bowling; Volleyball (Beach); Wrestling (Greco-Roman). A minimum of 300 quota positions shall be devoted to Para sports including core and optional sports. Following approval of team sports there shall be no more than 4 team sports on a program

Core sports

Aquatics (Swimming) 1930→ 2018

Aquatics (Swimming Para)

Athletics 1930→ 2018

Athletics (Para)

Badminton 1930→

Boxing 1930→

Cycling (Road) 1934→

Gymnastics (Artistic) 1978 1990→

Hockey 1998→

Judo 1990 2002 2014

Lawn Bowls 1930→ 2018

Lawn Bowls (Para)

Netball (♀) 1998→

Powerlifting (Para)

Rugby Sevens ♂ 1998→ ♀ 2018

Squash 1998→ 2018

Table Tennis 2002→ 2018

Triathlon 2002 2006 2014 2018

Weightlifting 1950→ 2018

Wrestling (Freestyle ♂) 1930-2002 2010→ 2018

Optional sports

Aquatics (Diving) 1930→

Aquatics (Swimming Open Water) app 2016

Aquatics (Synchronised Swimming ♀ 1986

Aquatics (Water Polo ♂)     1950 1954

Archery 1982 2010

Basketball 3x3 2002 2006 2014→ 2018

Basketball (Wheelchair Para 3x3)

Canoe

Cricket 1998

Cycling (Mountain Bike)

Cycling (Track)

Cycling (Track Para)

Fencing 1950-1962 1970

Gymnastics (Rhythmic ♀)

Rowing 1930 1938-1966 1978-1990

Sailing

Shooting (Clay Target) 1966 1974→ 2018

Shooting (Full Bore)

Shooting (Pistol)

Shooting (Small Bore)

Softball approved

Table Tennis (Para)

Taekwondo approved 2016

Tennis 2010

Ten Pin Bowling 1998

Triathlon (Para)

Wrestling (Greco-Roman ♂) 1930-2002 2010→