The 19th edition of the Common wealth games is going to be held in New Delhi, India in the month of October. This is the first time that the game will be held in India and the second time in Asia. This Delhi Commonwealth games are likely to be the costliest games ever. 72 countries will take part where 17 different sports will be played.
About Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games is the 3rd largest multi-sport phenomenon in the world. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) looks after oversees the sporting programs and selects the hosting cities. The games were first held in 1930 at Hamilton and today there are 5000 athletes from over 50 countries competing in 17 different sports.
History of Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games began in 1930. Since then, 18 editions of the game have been hosted. In 2006, the games were held in Melbourne, Australia and the next one i.e. the XIX Commonwealth Games will be held in New Delhi, India in October, 2010. Initially the event was named as British Empire Games; in 1954 it was renamed as British Empire and Commonwealth Games and in 1970 it was known as British Commonwealth Games. By 1978, it got the current name, i.e. Commonwealth Games.
Commonwealth Games sports
The Commonwealth Games Federation has approved of a total of 31 sports along with 7 para-sports. The sports are categorized into three types - core sports, optional sports and recognized sports. Initially core sports consisted of track and field, rowing, wrestling, boxing, lawn bowls and swimming. Later on other events like badminton, hockey, weightlifting etc, were also included. The host country has the option of picking up a number of optional sports including team sports.
