The Commonwealth Games – Glasgow 2014
2014 marks yet another fantastic milestone for British sport. Andy Murray may have ducked out of Wimbledon, Chris Froome may have become injured during Le Tour, and as for the England football team Рletֳ not even go there.
But in a sense of true Britishness, they donִ think itֳ all over just yet – as the nation clings on to their respective home turf in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014. to contend with.
With the Home Nations of Blighty featuring some of the finest athletes in the world at the moment, the atmosphere in Glasgow has reportedly reached a point of Saturday night booze up levels. Dangerous.
In the triathlon, the Brownlee brothers and Jodie Stimpson have already dominated as Alistair pipped his brother Jonny to the post on day one. And as for Sir Wiggo, though his team could only claim a silver medal in the team pursuit event, the Tour de France winner is confident that he can build on the result as he aims for the Rio Olympics in 2016. He told the Daily Mail: Ӓio is the goal and weֶe got to work back from that.Ӽ/em>[1]
Team England currently sits at the top of the medals chart with six golds, seven silvers and four bronze medals to their names – and thatֳ before teenage sensation Rebekah Tiler has even touched the weight lifting podium.
Sure, it may not be the Olympics but Team GBֳ various athletes utilise the games to figure out their form for the Olympic Games which occurs every two years following the Commonwealth Games.
Who? What? When? Where? Why?
The Commonwealth Gamesՠhistory can be traced as far back as 1891, when a proper British chap by the name of John Ashley Cooper proposed the Pan-Britannic-Anglican-Contest. Basically, a giant fish-off. Cooperֳ notion was to өncrease goodwill and good understanding of the British EmpireӮ A quaint proposition indeed Рespecially in 1891 when the Empire was largely crumbling.
Fast forward to 1911 and the coronation of King George Vֳ Festival of the Empire – a celebratory event to coincide with the appointment of a new king. Within the festival a host of athletic competitions such as boxing, wrestling and swimming took place amongst cohabitants of the various nations of the empire to celebrate the dominance of the world power ѡlbeit a fading one.
As the 1900ֳ saw rapid decolonization and the restoration of homelands to member states of the empire, the Brits in charge proposed a new system to keep the old gang together. Basically, the old warhorse wanted to maintain some level of superiority in a growing, and thriving world economy that was largely being dominated by those over the pond.
As a last ditch attempt to maintain world superiority the Commonwealth was formed and its flagship became the British Empire Games which would later be dubbed the Commonwealth Games as the term empire faded from all but colonial age discourse. The first games under the new system was organised by Melville Marks Robinson in 1930 which took place in Ontario Canada[2] and featured teams from Australia, Bermuda, Guiana, Canada, the Home Nations, Newfoundland, New Zealand and South Africa as England took the top spot with 60 medals overall.
And now, at the 20th Games, England will once more hope to take the top spot as world class athletes grace the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow which will be the 10th games since the name change in 1978.
The Glasgow 2014 Games has featured both national and world records since its inception in 1930, though world records were since broken at the Olympics due to the inclusion of African and American nations at those events. Currently the only world record to take place at a Games was in 1974 as Filbert Bayi took the 1500m record in Christchurch New Zealand which stood until 1979 and was beaten by Lord Coe.
Glasgow 2014
The teams in Glasgow feature some of the worldsՠgreatest sportspeople on earth and though Mo-Farah, Yohan Blake and Mark Cavendish are all going to be missed, the inclusion of Bradley Wiggins, Usain Bolt and the Brownlee brothers, the Games is set to be a roaring event that has ignited the sporting passion of all of the included nations.
Author: Toby Cryne
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2704552/Sir-Bradley-Wiggins-England-win-silver-team-pursuit-Commonwealth-Games.html
[2] http://sports.ndtv.com/commonwealth-games-2014/history/227288-history-commonwealth-games