Commonwealth Games

Like the Olympics, Commonwealth Games are when several countries compete against each other in various sport events. Events in the Commonwealth Games are synchronized swimming, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling mountain bike, cycling road, cycling track, gymnastics artistic, gymnastics rhythmic, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7’s, shooting, squash, table tennis, triathlon, and weightlifting. Some events, such as lawn bowling, have been around for centuries. Lawn bowling is believed to have started in the 13th, if not 12th, century. Altogether, Australia has received 1,905 medals from 1930 to 2006.

Australia has attended every Commonwealth Games/British Empire event. It was hosted in Australia four times. It was in Sydney in 1938, Perth in 1962, Brisbane in 1982, and Melbourne in 2006. The first Commonwealth Game was in 1930 in Canada. An Englishman named J Cooper proposed to idea of having a British Empire Sports Festival. The idea was liked by England and the colonies. Australia heard the news from B. J. Parkinson in Victoria and R. Coombes. The events were: track and field athletics, boxing, wrestling, and swimming events. The countries represented were Australia, Britain, South Africa and Canada. The awards were silver cups that were duplicates of a trophy given to Canada by Lord Lonsdale. Even the awards came from another country.The Queen’s Baton Relay has been a tradition with the Commonwealth Games. Every four years since 1958, the queen writes a message on a baton, which is read aloud at the Opening Ceremony.