COMMON WEALTH GAMES -2010 PEEP INTO THE PAST
Games are played not only to get into the arena and showcase the skill of each participating country, but it promotes integration among nations which comes as a discount!
Like Olympic Games, Common Wealth Games are also played once in four years. Last time, with India hosting the games for the first time, it was held from 3rd to 14th October, 2010 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. The opening and closing ceremony were held at the same venue.
The organizer is Common Wealth Games Federation
(CWGF).
The first of this sort of game was held in 1930 at Hamilton, Ontario in Canada, with just 11 countries participating. At that time it was called as the “British Empire Games.” It then underwent changes, thrice, as “British Empire Common Wealth Games” in 1954, and as “British Commonwealth Games in 1970 and then, as just, “Common Wealth Games,” in 1978.
It is better known as Multinational sports as 17 games were in the agenda. The last game held in
New Delhi in 2010 was the 19th edition/chapter of the games. Altogether 53 countries have participated, comprising 71 teams. And as many as 5, 000 players had taken part in it.
Rich as well as poor countries across the globe, from A to Z (Anguilla to Zambia), including India flew to New Delhi as the Indian government had provided the entire infrastructure for the games and the stay of the visiting sports stalwarts.
The 17 games played were Aquatics, Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Hockey, Lawn Bowling, Netball, Rugby 7’s, Shooting, Squash, Table tennis, Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling.
Although the inaugural ceremony commenced at the Nehru stadium, these games were played at different venues in and around Delhi.
Details of the venue where the earlier 18 games were played.
| Sl. No. | Venue | Year | No of participating countries |
| 1 | Hamilton, Canada | 1930 | 11 |
| 2 | London, UK | 1934 | 16 |
| 3 | Sydney Australia | 1938 | 15 |
| 4 | Auckland, New Zealand | 1950 | 12 |
| 5 | Vancouver, Canada | 1954 | 24 |
| 6 | Cardiff, UK | 1958 | 35 |
| 7 | Perth, Australia | 1962 | 35 |
| 8 | Jamaica, West Indies | 1996 | 34 |
| 9 | Edinburgh, UK | 1970 | 42 |
| 10 | Christchurch, New Zealand | 1974 | 38 |
| 11 | Edmonton, Canada | 1978 | 48 |
| 12 | Brisbane, Australia | 1982 | 47 |
| 13 | Edinburgh, UK | 1986 | 26 |
| 14 | Auckland, New Zealand | 1990 | 55 |
| 15 | Victoria, Canada | 1994 | 64 |
| 16 | Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia | 1998 | 70 |
| 17 | Manchester, UK | 2002 | 72 |
| 18 | Melbourne, Australia | 2006 | 71 |
| 19 | New Delhi, India | 2010 | 71 |
Next 20th Common Wealth Games are going to be held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014. Though every Indian is pleased that India had hosted such prestigious games in 2010, the sad part of it was that, the chief of the Indian organizer, Suresh Kalmadi was stripped off his post on charges of malpractices and misappropriation of funds!
How disgraceful!