The Commonwealth Games is 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.

Glasgow in Scotland 23 July — 3 August 2014

Commonwealth of Nations

There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations. All but two of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire.

History

The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Eleven countries with 400 athletes in total participated in the first Commonwealth Games.

Since then, the Games have been held every four years except for 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The last Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester in July and August 2002 and attractedabout 5,250 athletes from 72 Commonwealth nations and dependencies who participated in 14 individual sports and three team sports.

The Games have not always been known as the Commonwealth Games.

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.

1930 to 1950 they were known as the British Empire Games,
Until 1962 they were known as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games
1966 to 1974 they took on the title of British Commonwealth Games
1978 onwards they have been known as simply the Commonwealth Games.

The 17 Sporting Events of the Commonwealth Games

• Aquatics - Swimming and diving are among the oldest sports in the world. It was the Romans who introduced swimming to Britain as a 'manly social pursuit' in the first century AD

• Athletics -

• Badminton - The sport of badminton started life nearly 150 years ago in the great hall of one of the stately homes of England, Badminton House in Gloucestershire. It was introduced into the Commonwealth Games at Kingston, Jamaica, in 1966.

• Boxing - Boxing has been around since 4000 BC.

• Cycling - This sport has been featured in every Commonwealth Games since London, 1934.

• Gymnastics - Gymnastics is said to date back to ancient Greece.

• Hockey - Hockey is believed to be the oldest ball-and-stick game in the world, dating back over 4000 years.

• Judo - Dr Jigoro Kano invented judo as a new form of the martial art ju-jutsu in Japan in 1882.

• Lawn Bowls - The most famous game of bowls in world history took place on Plymouth Hoe on July 15, 1588, when Sir Francis Drake declined to interrupt his game despite the proximity of the Spanish Armada.

• Netball - Netball first appeared in 1897. England hosted the first world championships in 1963.

• Rugby 7s - William Webb Ellis, then a school boy, developed the game on the playing fields of Rugby School way back in 1823.

• Shooting - In the UK, shooting is one of the most popular participation sports behind football and fishing.

• Squash - The origins of this game comes within the confines of a London jail at the begginning of the 19th century. Inmates of London's Fleet Prison passed the time by hitting a ball against the walls of the exercise area with rackets. They called their brainchild Rackets . Later it was to become known as 'squash' after it was discovered that the game offered far more variety if the solid rubber ball was punctured or 'squashed'.

• Table Tennis - Originated in England in the 1880's .

• Triathlon - This sport began life in California in the early eighties. The triathlon will take place on the August 4, the final day of the Games

• Weightlifting -

• Wrestling - The first evidence of wrestling can be traced back 5,000 years to works of art and poetry in the Middle East and illustrations of wrestling techniques still practised today can be seen on Egyptian drawings dating back to 2500 BC.