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They call the Commonwealth Games the ‘Friendly Games’ for a reason, but expect a junk over the 280 gold medals on offer at Birmingham 2022.
Here’s what to look out for across all 11 days as Team England seek to reclaim Australia’s top spot in the medals table.
Friday, July 29: The triathlon takes over idyllic Sutton Park, where England’s Georgia Taylor-Brown battles Bermudan Flora Duffy. They scored a double in Tokyo and occupy the same places in the world rankings. Edgbaston is where we get our first glimpse of women’s T20 cricket and downtown 3×3 basketball while Laura Kenny leads England in the team pursuit at the London Velodrome.
Saturday, July 30th: Early-morning marathons end in Victoria Square, where just last month organizers replaced an unfortunate pothole on the finish line. Tom Dean and Duncan Scott’s 200-yard pool duel becomes a box office hit and the Roses continue their netball title defense against Malawi.
Sunday, July 31: Can Adam Peaty defy injury and retain his 100m breaststroke title? Remarkably, Fiji have never won Commonwealth gold in rugby sevens and their last chance comes on a day that features all-around gymnastics finals and triathlon mixed relays.
Montag, 1. August: The first lawn bowls final, men’s triples, could feature “Wonder Bowler” Nick Brett. Judo returns to the game schedule after missing out on 2018, and Dame Laura’s third and final medal shot comes in the scratch race. The pool is graced by Maisie Summers-Newton, Australia’s five-time Olympic champion Emma McKeon and her pop star boyfriend Cody Simpson with his 4.6 million Instagram followers in tow – certainly the most here.
Tuesday, August 2nd: The decisive day of the Games brings the start of the athletics program, the final gymnastics final and the penultimate night of swimming. You don’t need to look far for inspiration as fugitive weightlifters Cyrille Tchatchet and Craig Bowler – a para-athlete by name and nature who bowls with one arm and no leg – are in pursuit of gold.
Wednesday, August 3rd: All eyes are on the distance for the men’s and women’s 100m finals, with Dina Asher-Smith competing for a possible rematch with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in the latter. Mountain bike world champion Evie Richards from the Malvern Hills will be the favorite for gold in her own backyard and the all-conquering Kiwi Paul Coll is the star attraction in the squash final.
Thursday, August 4th: Para-powerlifters lift three times their body weight and the day-long competition will feature Paralympic medalists Micky Yule, Olivia Broome and Zoe Newson.
The Roses meet world champions New Zealand in a netball group stage show-stopper and cycle to Wolverhampton Road for Geraint Thomas, Rohan Dennis and Dan Bigham in the time trial.
How to watch the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Term: 28 July – 8 August
TV: The BBC shows over 200 hours of live coverage on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three, with additional coverage on the red button
Live broadcast: There will be up to 11 live streams which can be viewed online on BBC iPlayer or the BBC Sport website
Highlights: A highlight show Tonight at the games is shown on BBC One every night from 10pm to 10.40pm
Friday, August 5th: We are in the business end of games with hockey and table tennis semifinals, netball classification games and beach volleyball quarterfinals. The wrestling begins when 250 lb. Black Country grappler Mandir Kooner takes the spotlight.
Saturday, August 6th: A massive day of middle distance at Alexander Stadium, with newly crowned World Champion Jake Wightman taking on all his opponents in the 1500m in the morning and Keely Hodgkinson topping the 800m in the evening. In the semifinals of boxing and netball, medals can be minted, while in rhythmic gymnastics, hoops, clubs and ribbons are out.
Sunday, August 7th: If you watch a day of games, make it this one. Netball, cricket and hockey finals within a few hours promise an unforgettable day of team sports. That’s before you even mention cycling’s road race, a bump day with boxing finals and Laura Muir in the 1500m.
Montag, 8. August: The men’s ice hockey final will be the final event of the Games, with badminton, horse jumping, table tennis and squash scores yet to be determined before the curtain falls on the closing ceremony at Alexander Stadium.
Nine athletes from the home nations to be seen
Adam Peaty (England): Adam Peaty made his mark at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games when he defeated Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh in the 100m breaststroke to start a winning streak at the event that is still ongoing.
He arrives in Birmingham just before pre-season after a long absence with a broken foot, but Britain’s greatest swimmer of all time has his sights set on Commonwealth gold in the 50m breaststroke, the only title missing from his sizable collection.
Full-length Commonwealth Games sport
- water sports
- athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Beach-Volleyball
- boxes
- T20 Grid
- To go biking
- Gymnastics
- Eishockey
- Judo
- lawn bowls
- Netball
- Para powerlifting
- Rugby Sevens
- To squeeze
- table tennis
- Triathlon
- weightlifting
- The ring
Hannah Cockroft (England)
In terms of total dominance of their sport, few Britons can match Hannah Cockroft, who is set to make her debut at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Hurricane Hannah has seven Paralympic titles, 11 World Championships golds and has only been beaten three times, all by compatriot Kare Adenegan. Her 100m fight in the T34 category should be a smash hit and a chance for Cockroft to build on her already impressive legacy.
Alex Yee (England)
For the first time in 16 years, there will be no Brownlees at a big game, but the baton has already passed to Alex Yee. A silver medalist in Tokyo in the men’s triathlon and champion in the mixed relay, he will be a favorite at both events in Birmingham. A recent crash in Leeds was caused by New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, who is likely Yee’s main rival for the gold medal – on Friday Yee beat Wilde to the first gold of the Games.
Elinor Barker (Wales)
The last time we saw Elinor Barker on a big stage, she was quite a surprise scratch from the first round of the British team pursuit in Tokyo. As it turned out, Barker, who had been racing in qualifying the day before, was pregnant at the time and found out that same evening that the British team had won Olympic silver. She is now traveling to Birmingham to compete for Team Wales as a mother to a four-month-old boy en route.
Jake Wightman (Schottland)
In three and a half minutes, Oregon’s Jake Wightman shifted the stratosphere in terms of national consciousness. The new world 1500m champion stunned the world by defeating Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and captured the imagination when father Geoff commented on his remarkable performance. The Team Scotland athlete now faces the not inconsiderable challenge of confirming that performance in Birmingham as he seeks to improve on the bronze he won at Gold Coast.
Alex Marshall (Schottland)
Ask most people who Scotland’s most decorated athlete at the Commonwealth Games is and you’ll probably get Sir Chris Hoy, Duncan Scott or maybe Allan Wells as the answer. The correct answer is Alex “Tattie” Marshall, a five-time gold medalist in lawn bowling, who is traveling to his seventh Commonwealth Games at Birmingham 2022, having overtaken Wells as Scotland’s top team four years ago. He is also a 21-time world champion between indoor and outdoor bowling.
Helen Housby (England)
The lasting image of Gold Coast 2018 was Helen Housby, who covered her mouth in disbelief after sealing an unlikely netball gold for England against Australia in her own backyard. Few would have predicted that result at a tournament where Australia and New Zealand had contested every previous final, but if England are to repeat the feat they will need more heroics from Housby, who plays her club netball in Australia.
Rhys McClenaghan (Northern Ireland)
The shock of the Games four years ago came when the unheralded Rhys McClenaghan stunned Olympic champion Max Whitlock to win gold on the pommel horse. The Northern Ireland gymnast was nearly prevented from defending his crown, initially banned from International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) games for representing Ireland in major competitions. After a late turnaround from the FIG, McClenaghan will be in Birmingham in search of another Commonwealth title.
Sophie Ecclestone (England)
Sophie Ecclestone, the world’s top bowler in both one-day internationals and T20s, will be key to England’s hopes of winning the inaugural Commonwealth women’s cricket title. The left-armed spinner is two meters tall, and that height makes her incredibly difficult for opposing batters to deal with. At the World Cup earlier this year, Ecclestone picked up 21 wickets but is still searching for an elusive first major title for the national team after missing the 2017 World Cup due to school exams.
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