What Are the Commonwealth Games? Australia’s Record, Explained

Every few years the Commonwealth Games rolls around, and Australians tune in to watch athletes they had never heard of become household names by the end of the first week. If you have ever wondered what the Games actually are, where they came from and why Australia does so well at them, the answers are more straightforward than you might think.

What the Games are

The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event for the countries and territories of the Commonwealth, the association that grew out of the British Empire. It is held roughly every four years. Athletics and swimming sit at the centre of the programme, joined by a spread of team sports, combat sports and para-sport events. Because the Commonwealth includes many small nations, the Games offer a stage where athletes from places that would rarely reach an Olympic final get to compete on equal terms. That mix is part of what gives the event its friendlier feel, and it has long been known as the Friendly Games.

A short history

The first Games were held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930 under the name the British Empire Games. As the empire gave way to the Commonwealth, the event was renamed more than once: it became the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, then the British Commonwealth Games in 1970, and finally the Commonwealth Games from 1978. There were no Games during the Second World War, and the event has otherwise run on a four-year cycle for most of its history.

Para-sport has been part of it for decades

One thing that sets the Commonwealth Games apart is how it handles para-sport. From 1994, athletes with a disability have competed as full members of their national team, in the same programme and with their medals counted in the same tally as everyone else. It was a first for an event of this size, and it means Australian para-athletes and able-bodied athletes have worn the same green and gold on the same stage for more than thirty years.

Why Australia does so well

Australia is one of the most successful nations in the history of the Games. It has consistently finished near the top of the medal table, and on home soil it has led the count. No country has hosted the event more often. Australia has staged the Games five times: Sydney in 1938, Perth in 1962, Brisbane in 1982, Melbourne in 2006 and the Gold Coast in 2018. For many young Australian athletes the Commonwealth Games is the first big multi-sport event they compete in, and it has launched plenty of careers that went on to Olympic level.

What is on the programme

The list of sports shifts a little each time to suit the host. Alongside athletics and swimming you will usually see netball, rugby sevens, hockey, boxing, weightlifting and lawn bowls, plus para versions of many of them. For a smaller nation, a medal in any of these is a genuinely huge moment, and those celebrations are part of the appeal for viewers.

Why it matters to Australian viewers

The Games carry a warmth that bigger events sometimes lose. Many of the athletes train in Australian clubs and juggle sport with work or study, so their results feel closer to home than the ones from the other side of the world. Watching them is a reminder that international sport does not have to feel distant. When an Australian athlete stands on the podium, it is a good thing to watch with the whole family.

The Friendly Games

The Commonwealth Games is the rare big event that still feels friendly. It gives small nations a real chance, it has included para-athletes alongside everyone else for decades, and it brings out the best in Australian sport every time it comes around. Knowing a little of that history makes it easier to enjoy the Games next time they roll around, whatever sport you end up watching.

Sources: Commonwealth Games Australia (commonwealthgames.com.au) · Commonwealth Games Federation (thecgf.com) · Wikipedia, “Commonwealth Games” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Games)