The Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games are held by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). It is the third largest, international sporting event after the Olympics. Just like the Olympics, a different country is selected to host the games every 4 years and hundreds of athletes from all over the world attend to compete. This year's Commonwealth Games will host its largest number of para-sport events which promotes the 2016 theme ‘An Inclusive Commonwealth’.

The events of The Commonwealth Games are very similar to those of the Olympics, along with a few extra sports, such as lawn bowls and netball.

The Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games were once known as the British Commonwealth Games until 1978 as it was held as an event to bring together all members of the British Empire.

The 3 nations to have hosted the games the most times are Australia (5 times), Canada (4 times) and New Zealand (3 times).

Events of the games include triathlon, hockey, judo, cycling, athletics and table tennis.

Photo courtesy of jimmyharris(@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution

Fun Commonwealth Games Facts!

• Our queen is Queen of 16 of the 54 British Commonwealth member countries.

• Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth and happens on the second Monday of March.

• The British Commonwealth Games (as it used to be called were first held in Hamilton, Canada, 1930. The last Commonwealth Games were held in Glasgow, Scotland, 2014.

lawn bowlsPhoto courtesy of Ihourahane(@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution

triathlonPhoto courtesy of Tugdual Grall(@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution

hockeyPhoto courtesy of Sarah Price Photography(@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution

judoPhoto courtesy of Sarah Price Photography(@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution

table tennisPhoto courtesy of stephentyler2(@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution

netballPhoto courtesy of Nottingham Trent University(@flickr.com) - granted under creative commons licence – attribution