The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, have successively run every four years since. The Games were called the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950, the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966, and British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974. Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams since 2002, making the Commonwealth Games the first fully inclusive international multi-sport event. In 2018, the Games became the first global multi-sport event to feature an equal number of men's and women's medal events and four years later they are the first global multi-sport event to have more events for women than men.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March 2006. It was the fourth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games. It was also the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.
The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium, in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the athletics and archery events venue. Other events were held at the purpose-built Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler.
Carrara Stadium is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara.
Hambantota is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri LankaThe prominent Malays (මැලේ) most part of the population is to be partly descended from seafarers from the Malay Archipelago (java) who travelled through the Magampura port, and over time settled down.
The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus becoming the first country to win the Cricket World Cup final on home soil. India's Yuvraj Singh was declared the man of the tournament. This was the first time in World Cup history that two Asian teams had appeared in the final. It was also the first time since the 1992 World Cup that the final match did not feature Australia.
Cazalys Stadium is a sports stadium in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It is situated in the suburb of Westcourt. The stadium is named after the social club which abuts the oval, Cazalys, which itself was named after Australian rules footballer Roy Cazaly.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was the fifth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games and the first time a major multi-sport had an equal number of events for male and female athletes.
The Glasgow bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was the successful bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games by the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It beat the Abuja 2014 Commonwealth Games bid to host the games, which will be held over 11 days, with the opening ceremony on 23 July 2014, and the last day of competition and closing ceremony on 3 August 2014.
The Abuja bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was an unsuccessful bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games by the city of Abuja, Nigeria. The bidding race was won by the Glasgow 2014 bid after a 47–24 vote by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly on 9 November 2007 in Sri Lanka.
The United Kingdom has been awarded, or is bidding to hold, a number of major international sporting events during the 2010s leading to an idea of a 'Golden Decade' in British sport. The idea of the golden decade has been discussed in many newspapers and has been mentioned by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Coe.
Three cities applied with bids to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in October 2009. The International Olympic Committee, under the leadership of Jacques Rogge, received three bids on October 15, 2009. The cities of Annecy, France, in the French Alps, Munich, Germany, and Pyeongchang, South Korea, a two-time previous bidder, competed for the hosting rights to the event. This was the lowest number of bidding cities since the 1988 Summer Olympics, coincidentally also won by South Korea. The winning bid was announced on July 6, 2011, at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa by IOC President Jacques Rogge at 5.22 pm local time Pyeongchang beat Munich and Annecy in the first round of votes with 63 of the 95 total votes.
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, also known as Sooriyawewa International Cricket Stadium, and abbreviately as MRIC Stadium, is an international cricket stadium in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. It was built for the 2011 Cricket World Cup and hosted two matches, the first being Sri Lanka against Canada, on 20 February 2011. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people making It the second largest stadium in Sri Lanka.
Bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth Games began on 31 March 2010. The winning bid was announced in Basseterre, Saint Kitts on 11 November 2011. Gold Coast won its bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The 2017 Asian Youth Games were to be an international multi-sport event. Initially planned to be hosted by the city of Hambantota, Sri Lanka, a new host for the 2017 AYG were to be decided at a future Olympic Council of Asia general assembly after Sri Lanka lost its hosting rights. It has now been decided to postpone until 2021 in Shantou, China, but was eventually cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in China.
Coomera Indoor Sports Centre is an Australian entertainment and sporting arena which was built on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
The city of Durban, South Africa was initially elected as the host for the 2022 Commonwealth Games on 2 September 2015, at a General Assembly in Auckland, New Zealand. It was reported in February 2017 however, Durban may be unable to host the games due to financial constraints. On 13 March 2017, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) stripped Durban of their rights to host. On 21 December 2017, Birmingham was awarded for the 2022 Games as Durban's replacement host. Louise Martin, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, made the official announcement at a press conference at the Arena Academy in Birmingham.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Victoria 2026, is a multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth scheduled to take place across four regional sites in the Australian state of Victoria: Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland. The opening ceremonies will be held in the state capital Melbourne at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the closing ceremonies will be held at the Kardinia Park in Geelong. In a departure from previous Commonwealth Games, the event will not be held in one major city but will be hosted by the state and held across a number of regional cities outside the capital. The Games will take place over twelve days between 17 and 29 March 2026.
The Gold Coast bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games was a successful bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games by the city of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It beat the Hambantota bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games to host the games, which will be held over 11 days, with the opening ceremony on 4 April 2018, and the last day of competition and closing ceremony on 15 April 2018.
An extensive bidding process for the 2026 Commonwealth Games began in 2018, and ended in 2022 with the announcement of the state of Victoria, Australia being the host. The host city was to be announced in 2019 in Rwanda, but was cancelled over lack of interest. The winning bid was announced by Dame Louise Martin, head of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
Hambantota, Sri Lanka 
