COMMON WEALTH GAMES

History

Common Wealth Games (CWG), formerly known as British Empire Games, were first held in 1930

in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 1978 they are known as Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has 71 member nations and territories called Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) which include India. The three core values of CWG movement are Humanity, Equality and Destiny.

Relay

Queen’s Baton Relay is a very important tradition of CWG. It started in 1958 in Cardiff, Wales. The relay starts with a ceremony at Buckingham Palace where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II hands over the baton with her message to the players to the first relay runner and relay ends at the opening ceremony of the games. This time competitions will be held in seventeen sports.

Logo

The logo of the Delhi CWG is inspired by the chakra symbol of freedom, unity and power. The upward spiral depicts India’s growth into proud and vibrant nation powered by the coming together of her over a billion people. The tagline “Come out and Play” as an invitation to all to let go of themselves and participate in the Games to the best of their abilities, in the true spirit of the Games.

Mascot

Shera, the Games mascot represents the modern Indian. He as an achiever with a positive attitude, a global citizen but justifiably proud of nation’s ancient heritage, a fierce competitor but with integrity and honesty. Shera as also a ‘large-hearted gentlemen’ who loves making friends.

New in 2010

• Wrestling is returning to the games after a gap of eight years with 64 medals.
• Archery will be held only 2nd time in the history of CWG where India can hope much because of her last performances at different events. 24 medals will be at stake.
• Tennis is making its debut in the CWG. There are 5 golds at stake in this competition.

India’s Chances

In Badminton World No 2 Saina Nehwal has raised a lot of hopes with Chetan Anand and P.Kashyap are medal prospects in men’s section. In squash India has good chance of bagging a medal or two with S.Ghospal in good form and young Deepika doing well in the women’s section. Table tennis was a big surprise in Melbourne where Sharat A Kamal emerged as champion.

Indirect Benefits

It is always a matter of debates “Whether a developing country can afford the expenditure for such mega event”. The truth is that it usually only when a mega event comes around that any city gets its sporting and civic infrastructure upgraded. It has been the case in many other cities, ranging from Barcelona to Atlanta to Sydney and Athens and latest being Beijing. Melbourne (2006) and before that Manchester (2002) and Kuala Lumpur benefited a great deal from Commonwealth Games, as did Asian Games host Doha(2006), Busan, Korea (2002), Bangkok (1998).

There is no denying that mega events cause great deal of discomfort when facilities are built, and cost overruns can have an impact on local economy. But we also have to see other side of coin. 1982 Asian Games brought about four new flyovers, three new five star hotels besides the Siri Fort Sports Complex and Asian Games Village, and above all, Colour TV, we can hope similarly 2010 Commonwealth Games will bring with it many positives. It is all about how we are seeing the things.

Take this as an opportunity to show the world that we are on the right track of Vision 2020. Let’s come together and cheer all our sports persons participating in this mega event and make them fill that we are with them.