Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games Associations are 71 recognised organisations responsible for preparing, selecting and sending a team of athletes and support staff to compete in the Games.

They are...

Africa

Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

Americas

Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Falkland Islands, Guyana, St. Helena

Asia

Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka

Caribbean

Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands

Europe

Cyprus, England, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales

Oceania

Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada where 11 countries sent 400 athletes to take part in 6 sports and 59 events.

Bobby Robinson, a major influence within athletics in Canada at the time, finally implemented the event that had been talked about amongst Commonwealth nations for over thirty years with the City of Hamilton providing $30,000 to help cover travelling costs of the participating nations.

Since then, the Games have been conducted every four years (except for 1942 and 1946 due to World War II) and the event has seen many changes, not least in its name.

From 1930 to 1950 the Games were known as the British Empire Games, from 1954 until 1966 the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and from 1970 to 1974 they took on the title of British Commonwealth Games.

It was the 1978 Games in Edmonton that saw this unique, world class, multi-sports event change its name to the Commonwealth Games.

Often referred to as the 'Friendly Games' only single competition sports had been on the programme from 1930 up to and including the 1994 Games in Victoria.

The 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur saw the introduction of team sports, whilst the 2002 Games in Manchester introduced a limited number of full medal events for elite athletes with a disability (EAD).

Since 1930 the Games have been held in the following cities...

• 1930 - Hamilton, Canada
• 1934 - London, England
• 1938 - Sydney, Australia
• 1950 - Auckland, New Zealand
• 1954 - Vancouver, Canada
• 1958 - Cardiff, Wales
• 1962 - Perth, Australia
• 1966 - Kingston, Jamaica
• 1970 - Edinburgh, Scotland
• 1974 - Christchurch, New Zealand
• 1978 - Edmonton, Canada
• 1982 - Brisbane, Australia
• 1986 - Edinburgh, Scotland
• 1990 - Auckland, New Zealand
• 1994 - Victoria, Canada
• 1998 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• 2002 - Manchester, England
• 2006 - Melbourne, Australia
• 2010 - Delhi, India
• 2014 - Glasgow, Scotland
• 2018 - Gold Coast, Australia
• 2022 - Birmingham, England

In 2026 the Commonwealth Games will be held in Victoria, Australia.

Only 6 sports made up the Programme of the first Commonwealth Games in Hamilton 1930...

• Aquatics (Swimming & Diving)
• Athletics
• Boxing
• Lawn Bowls
• Rowing and
• Wrestling

But now each city hosting the Games must include a minimum of 10 core sports...

• Aquatics (Swimming)
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Boxing (Men) with an option to add Women's events
• Hockey (Men & Women)
• Lawn Bowls
• Netball (Women)
• Rugby Sevens (Men) with an option to add Women's Sevens
• Squash and
• Weightlifting

They can also include up to an additional 7 sports from the list of optional sports/disciplines, which are...

• Archery
• Basketball (Men & Women)
• Beach Volleyball (Men & Women)
• Canoeing
• Cycling (Road and/or Mountain Bike and/or Track)
• Diving (as part of Aquatics)
• Gymnastics (Artistic and/or Rhythmic)
• Judo
• Open Water Swimming (as part of Aquatics)
• Rowing
• Sailing
• Shooting (Clay Target and/or Fullbore and/or Pistol & Small Bore)
• Softball (Men & Women)
• Synchronised Swimming (as part of Aquatics)
• Table Tennis
• Tennis
• Tenpin Bowling
• Taekwondo
• Triathlon and
• Wrestling

The CGF and International Paralympic Committee have also established a list of 4 core Para-Sports for elite athletes with a disability, which host cities must include. They can then include events from up to an additional 3 listed optional Para-Sports but not exceeding 20 events, which must be fully integrated into the overall Sports Programme.

Note: With effect from 2022, table tennis will become one of the compulsory core sports.

Table Tennis first appeared at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England in 2002, and has featured in all subsequent Games.

(Table tennis also has its own separate Commonwealth Championships which started in 1971, and is played once every two years)

The medal winners are as follows...

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All the details and results can be found here...

2014 - Glasgow, Scotland

2018 - Gold Coast, Australia

2022 - Birmingham, England