Commonwealth Game History

History: Reverend Ashley Cooper was the first person to propose the idea of having a PanBritannic sporting contest to foster a spirit of goodwill and understanding within the British Empire. In 1928, a key Canadian athlete, Bobby Robinson, was given the task of organizing the first ever Commonwealth Games. These Games were held in 1930, in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and saw the participation of 400 athletes from eleven countries. Since then, the Commonwealth Games have been held every four years, except for the period during the Second World War. The Games have been known by various names such as the British Empire Games, Friendly Games and British Commonwealth Games. Since 1978, they have been known as the Commonwealth Games. Originally having only single competition sports, the 1998 Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur saw a major change when team sports such as cricket, hockey and netball made their first appearance. In 2001, the Games Movement adopted the three values of Humanity, Equality and Destiny as the core values of the Commonwealth Games. These values inspire and connect thousands of people and signify the broad mandate for holding the Games within the Commonwealth. After Olympics, Commonwealth Games is the second largest sports festival in the world. The Games are held once in four years but only in between the Olympic years. The Games were originally known as the British Empire Games. The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 at Hamilton, Canada. The 10th Commonwealth Games were held at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974, the 11th in Edmonton (Canada) in 1978, the 12th in Brisbane (Australia) in 1982, the 13th in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1986, the 14th in Auckland (New Zealand) in 1990 and the 15th in Victoria (Canada) in 1994, where about 3,350 athletes from a record 64 nations (including South Africa, which joined the family of Commonwealth athletes after 36 years) participated. Namibia also, which gained its independence in 1990, made its debut while Hong Kong made its final appearance in the Games before being ceded to China in 1997. S. No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Venue Hamilton, Canada London, United Kingdom Sydney, Australia Auckland, New Zealand Vancouver, Canada Cardiff, United Kingdom Perth, Australia Jamaica, West Indies Year 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 No of Countries 11 16 15 12 24 35 35 34
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Edinburgh, United Kingdom Christchurch, New Zealand Edmonton, Canada Brisbane, Australia Edinburgh, United Kingdom Auckland, New Zealand Victoria, Canada Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Manchchester, United Kingdom Melbourne, Australia New Delhi, India

1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010

42 38 48 47 26 55 64 70 72 71 71

ASIAN GAMES
India played a leading role to organise sports festival for Asian countries on Olympic lines. 'Ever Onward' is the motto of the Asian Games and 'a bright full rising sun with interlocking rings' is its emblem. The first Asian Games were held at New Delhi in 1951 followed by Manila, Philippines (1954); Tokyo, Japan (1958); Jakarta, Indonesia (1962); Bangkok, Thailand (1966, 1970, 1978 & 1998); Teheran, Iran (1974); New Delhi, India (1982); Seoul, South Korea (1986); Beijing, China (1990); Hiroshima, Japan (1994); Bangkok, Thailand(1998); Busan, South Korea (2002); Doha, Qatar (2006). The next editions of the Games is scheduled to be held in and Guangzhou, China (2010).

SAP GAMES
The South Asian Federation Games (SAP Games) is a sport festival of South Asian countries. The South Asian Sports Federation comprising India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives was formed in New Delhi in November, 1982. The first SAP Games were held in Kathmandu in 1984 followed by Dhaka (1985), Kolkata (1987), Islamabad (1989), Colombo (1991), Dhaka (1993) and Chennai (1995). The Eighth SAF Games (September 25Octobcr 4, 1999) were held in Kathmandu. Three new eventsbadminton, rowing and karate were introduced for the first time in the 9th SAP Games.

New Name For SAF Games: The SAP Games have been rechristencd as South Asian
Games, according to a decision taken by the South Asian Sports Federation at its 32nd meeting held in Islamabad (Pakistan) on April 2, 2004.

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