History of Commonwealth Games - The British Empire Games

Aside from the famous Olympic Sports featuring the best players around the world, the Commonwealth Games is also another popular sports festival on the international level that has been anticipated by many athletes in the world specifically for the Commonwealth countries.

Similar to the Olympics, the Commonwealth game is also held every 4 years. However, the difference will be that the Commonwealth game can only be joined by the countries under the Commonwealth Games Federation(CGF) which consist of 54 members from Africa, Asia, Europe, and also the Pacific.

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Every country will fight for the gold medal to show that they are among the best in the world and here we would like to share with you a little bit of history regarding the Commonwealth Games.

Original Idea of the Commonwealth Games

The original concept of the Commonwealth Games has been discussed among the Commonwealth countries since the birth of the Olympic games. The sports competition that grouped together the members of the first British Empire was first suggested by Reverend Astley Copper in 1891.

He wrote an article in the Times magazine proposing the idea of Competition and the Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican festival every 4 years as an initiative to promote goodwill and a strong relationship with the British Empire.

In 1911, the Festival of Empire was held in London to celebrate the coronation of King George V. As part of the activities of the festivals, championships between Empires were done whereby teams from Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom were going up against each other in sports like boxing, wrestling, swimming and other types of sports.

Bronze trophies as high as 2 feet and 6 inches weighing 340 Oz as part of the contribution from Lord Lonsdale were given to the country that won which was Canada.

Organizing The British Empire Games

There were no further developments until 1928 when the Olympics took place in Amsterdam. The friendships and warmth that have been achieved between the athletes of the Commonwealth at the time have also liven up the idea to organize the Commonwealth games.

The First Commonwealth games known as the British Empire Games back then were held in Canada in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario. Bobby Robinson that happens to be the main athlete in Canada at the time was considered the driving force of the event.

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This first event involved 400 athletes from 11 different countries. In order to cover the costs of the trips for the athletes, the City of Hamilton has provided a fund of $30,000. The support for this concept came from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland with the decision to send the best team to Canada.

Other contenders also came to participate from Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, British Guiana, Newfoundland, and South Africa. Some of the events that were contested comprised track races, swimming, rowing, boxing, wrestling, and field bowling.

History of Name Change of Commonwealth Games

The success of the first event held in Hamilton in 1930 has given an adequate incentive to further continue this sport for the next upcoming edition. Since 1930, it has been organized every 4 years except in 1942 and 1946 when the whole world was shaken by the Second World War.

From 1930 until 1950 this sport was known as The British Empire Games and was later changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games until 1962. From 1966 until 1974 the name was again changed to the British Commonwealth Games and from 1978 until now it is only known as Commonwealth Games.

Despite other Sports around the world being founded due to the geography factor or climates like Asia, Pan Am, African Games, and Winter Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games were on the basis of past history.

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This unique feature of the Commonwealth Games is what made it one of the only sports that share the same language. All the athletes and officers can speak to one another in English and ultimately creating this conducive environment in the Commonwealth Games which are known as Friendly Games.

Choosing The Host

From the first Host of the Commonwealth Games in Canada, this sport was organized in many primary Commonwealth countries. Canada was once again the host of the event which was held in Vancouver in 1954, Edmonton in 1978, and also Victoria in 1994.

Australia on the other hand has become the host of the Commonwealth Games 4 times being in Sydney in 1938. Perth 1962, Brisbane 1982 as well as Melbourne 2006.

However, in 1998 Kuala Lumpur became the first host of the Commonwealth Games in Asia. Later in 2010, the sports came back to Asia with India becoming the host and held in Delhi.

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