The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games, is 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 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what now is known as the Commonwealth Games, and were held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from 16 to 23 August 1930.
Scotland is one of only six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. The others are Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and Wales.
Canada has participated in every Commonwealth Games since the first ever British Empire Games held in Hamilton, Ontario in 1930, one of only six countries to have done so. The others are Australia, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales.
Australia competed at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales, from 18 to 26 July 1958. It was Australia's sixth appearance at the Commonwealth Games, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1930.
Australia competed at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, from 4 to 13 August 1966. It was Australia's eighth appearance at the Commonwealth Games, having competed at every Games since their inception in 1930.
Wales is one of six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since 1930, the others being Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand and Scotland. At the Commonwealth Games, Wales takes part as a separate entity, as in the Six Nations Rugby Championship, Rugby World Cup and international association football competitions. In other events, such as the Olympic Games, they compete under the banner of the United Kingdom.
England is one of only six teams to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since the first Empire Games in 1930. The others are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.
Ronald James Pickering was an athletics coach and BBC sports commentator.
Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
Reginald Heber Thomas AFC was a Welsh middle-distance runner. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1930 British Empire Games. He missed the 1936 Summer Olympics because of injury, and did not compete in the 1934 British Empire Games for Wales, because of English objections. At both Olympics he was eliminated in the first round of the 1500 metres event. At the 1930 Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, he won the gold medal in the mile and the silver medal in the 880 yards. He could not compete for Wales because Wales did not have a national athletics association at the time. Welsh track and field athletes could only compete for England in 1930 although Welsh swimmers did compete for their home nation.
New Zealand at the 1938 British Empire Games was represented by a team of 69 competitors and 13 officials, including 18 athletes, 15 rowers, eight swimmers and divers, and seven each of boxers, cyclists and wrestlers. Selection of the team for the Games in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, was the responsibility of the New Zealand Olympic and British Empire Games Association. New Zealand's flagbearer at the opening ceremony was Jim Leckie. The New Zealand team finished fifth on the medal table, winning a total of 25 medals, five of which were gold.
At the 1930 British Empire Games, the athletics events were held at the Civic Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The programme featured 21 men's events, with all measurements being done in imperial units.
Gladys Anne Lunn was an English track and field athlete from Birmingham, England who competed in the 1934 British Empire Games in the 1938 British Empire Games.
At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in Perth, Western Australia. The stadium, set in the suburb of Floreat, was purpose-built for the competition. A total of 31 events were contested, of which 21 by male and 10 by female athletes. The competition was affected by hot weather and soldiers from the Australian Army were called upon to supply athletes with water throughout the competition. Heavy wind also affected the programme, with the sprints and jumps most affected by the conditions.
Athletics has a long history in Wales, with many events recognised today codified during the Victorian period. The first amateur athletic clubs in Wales were formed in the 1870s, while the first championships began in the early 20th century. Wales began competing as a country in international athletic events in the 1920s and has since produced a notable number of world class sportspeople including many medal winning Commonwealth, World, Olympic, Paralympic and European champions. Wales competes in the Commonwealth Games under its own flag but at the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete alongside those of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland as part of a Great Britain team.
Sally Peake is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the pole vault. She has a personal best of 4.40 m for the event, which is a Welsh record. She was the silver medallist in the pole vault at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Cyril Vardon "Don" Evans was a New Zealand middle-distance runner who represented his country at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
George Burleigh (1914–1984) was a Canadian swimmer. He won gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1930 and 1934. and held Canadian freestyle swimming records in the 1930s.
Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) is the Commonwealth Games Association for Australia, and is responsible for representing and promoting the Commonwealth Sport movement in the country, and organises the participation of athletes at the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games. It changed it name from the Australian Commonwealth Games Association to Commonwealth Games Australia in 2015. The Commonwealth Games have been held in Australia five times, most recently the 2018 Commonwealth Games were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
