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The Commonwealth Games of 2022 are now upon us, with over 5,000 athletes competing in nearly 300 events.
Following the opening ceremony at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on Thursday 28 July, almost exactly 10 years after the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, the Games will last 11 days when England will host for the third time in its history.
Despite its scale, not all countries can participate in the Commonwealth Games – here are all the nations that will take part in Birmingham 2022 and all the sports they will compete in.
Which countries will compete in Birmingham 2022?
There are a total of 72 countries in the Commonwealth Games Association and all confirmed they would be sending athletes to Birmingham 2022.
Joining the main lights of England, Australia and Canada will be lesser known federations such as Norfolk Island, which will be represented in the second city by 14 bowlers.
Saint Helena sends a team of 14 made up of athletes, swimmers and a badminton player, while Niue has 15 athletes competing in boxing, bowls and weightlifting: here is the complete list of participating countries:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bermuda
- Botswana
- British Virgin Islands
- Brunei
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Isole Cayman
- Cook Islands
- Cipro
- Dominica
- England (guest)
- In Swat
- Isole Falkland
- Figure
- The Gambia
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Grenade
- Guernsey
- Guyana
- India
- Isle of Man
- Jamaica
- Sweater
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Malta
- Maurizio
- Montserrat
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- New Zeland
- Nigeria
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Ireland
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Rwanda
- Sant’Elena
- Saint Kitts e Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent e Grenadine
- Samoa
- Scotland
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sud Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Isolate Turks and Caicos
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Wales
- Zambia
What sports are included in the Commonwealth Games?
While it lacks the general scope of the Olympics, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games there are a total of 1,875 medals to be won in 280 events across 19 different sports.
New events for Birmingham include women’s T20 cricket, threesomes basketball and mixed synchronized swimming:
- aquatic
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Beach volley
- Boxing
- Grillo T20
- Cycling
- Gym
- Hockey
- Judo
- Lawn bowls
- Netball
- Seven-a-side rugby
- Squash
- Ping-pong
- Triathlon
- Weightlifting
- Lotta
What is the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth refers to the political association of 56 sovereign nations, many of which were former territories of the British Empire.
At its peak, Britain ruled nearly a quarter of the world’s population, so these associations span almost every corner of the planet.
The Commonwealth has its origins in the first half of the 20th century, when a growing number of states declared their independence from the Empire.
Britain hoped that a continued alliance would help it maintain global power in the postwar era and in 1959 Queen Elizabeth II described Canada as the “first independent country within the British Empire”.
According to the Balfour Declaration, member states are “equal in status, in no way subordinate to each other in any aspect of their internal or external affairs, although united by common loyalty to the Crown and freely associated as members of the Commonwealth of Nations. British “.
While some countries, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, retain the queen as head of state, others have become republics. Barbados removed the queen last year and experts believe it is “inevitable” that others will follow.
The Commonwealth Games began as the British Empire Games in 1930, becoming the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954 and the British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974, before adopting its current name.
What is the full schedule of the 2022 Commonwealth Games?
- Friday 29th July: Georgia Taylor-Brown of England fights Bermudan Flora Duffy in triathlon. As we first watch women’s T20 cricket and 3 × 3 basketball, Laura Kenny leads England in the team pursuit at the London Velodrome.
- Saturday 30th July: Morning marathons are followed by Tom Dean and Duncan Scott’s 200m in the pool, and the Roses continue their netball title defense against Malawi.
- Sunday 31 July: Adam Peaty will attempt to defy injury and retain his 100 breaststroke title as Fiji have a chance to finally win their first Commonwealth gold in rugby sevens.
- Monday 1st August: The first lawn bowls final, men’s triple, could feature “Wonder Bowler” Nick Brett, as judo makes its return to Commonwealth Games action. Dame Laura will get her third shot at a medal in the scratch race, while there are several high profile pool races.
- Tuesday 2nd August: The athletics program begins today, as we witness the last gymnastics finals and the penultimate night of swimming.
- Wednesday 3 August: All eyes will be on the track for the men’s and women’s 100m finals, even though Dina Asher-Smith was lined up for a potential rematch with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce before retiring. We will also see the mountain bike and squash finals.
- Thursday 4th August: The para-powerlifters lift their body weight three times and the one-day competition will feature Paralympic medalists Micky Yule, Olivia Broome and Zoe Newson – we will also see Geraint Thomas in the cycling time trial.
- Friday 5th August: We are at the end of the Games business with hockey and table tennis semi-finals, netball ranking matches and beach volleyball quarter-finals, as the wrestling competition begins.
- Saturday 6th August: A great middle distance day at Alexander Stadium when newly crowned world champion Jake Wightman takes on all opponents in the 1500m in the morning and Keely Hodgkinson tops the bill in the 800m in the evening.
- Sunday 7 August: Netball, cricket and hockey medals will all be decided within hours and promise an unforgettable day of team sports. That’s before I even mention cycling road racing, an exceptional day of boxing finals and Laura Muir in the 1500m.
- Monday 8 August: The men’s hockey final will be the final event of the Games with scores of badminton, diving, table tennis and squash, all yet to be finalized before the curtain falls with the closing ceremony.
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