Birmingham 2022: How the Commonwealth Games were born

Published
18th Jul, 2022

Context

The 2022 Commonwealth Games, commonly known as Birmingham 2022, is an international multi-sport event that is scheduled to be held in Birmingham, England from 28 July to 8 August 2022.

About

It is officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games.
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games, is an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations.
The creation of the Games was inspired by the Inter-Empire Championships, as a part of the Festival of Empire, which were held in London in 1911
The event was first held in 1930 and has taken place every four years since then.
Earlier, the Commonwealth Games were known as;
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, 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.

About

There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
72 teams currently participate in the Commonwealth Games, as it is a feature of the Commonwealth Games that a number of dependent territories who do not compete separately at the Olympic Games, compete in the Commonwealth Games under their own flags.
The four Home Nations of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) also send separate teams.
Only six nations have participated in every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.
And nineteen cities in nine countries (counting England, Scotland and Wales separately) have hosted the games.

Which are Commonwealth Countries?

Commonwealth, also called Commonwealth of Nations, formerly (1931–49) British Commonwealth of Nations, a free association of sovereign states comprising the United Kingdom and a number of its former dependencies who have chosen to maintain ties of friendship and practical cooperation and who acknowledge the British monarch as symbolic head of their association.
Criteria to be among common wealth countries: It must have an empire in its own right, it had a viceroy, a separate secretary of state in London, its own army, and even, to a certain degree, its own foreign policy.

Common wealth Games and India

When India and Pakistan were granted independence in 1947, they became members of the Commonwealth.
In 1949 India announced its intention to become a republic, which would have required its withdrawal from the Commonwealth under the existing rules, but at a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government in London in April 1949 it was agreed that India could continue its membership if it accepted the British crown as only “the symbol of the free association” of Commonwealth members.
India has competed in all but four editions of the Commonwealth Games; starting at the second Games in 1934.
India has also hosted the games once, in 2010.
The most successful event for India in these games is
India with an overall total of 503 medals (181 gold, 173 silver, 149 bronze) is ranked 4th at the All-time Commonwealth Games medal table.