brought to you by Barrantes Tour & Travel sports reporter, Todd
At the Beijing summer Olympics, there were a massive 204 nations completing with a total of just over 11,000 athletes.
At the winter Olympics in Vancouver, there were a respectable 82 nations completing, sending 2,622 athletes.
Well, it may surprise most people in the US to know that there is another Olympic-like sporting event going on this week and next in Delhi, India. It is the Commonwealth Games, attended by athletes from countries who are members of the British Commonwealth, of which New Zealand is part. (For more info on the Commonwealth, visit http://www.thecommonwealth.org/.)
Now, when I first heard talk of this while watching sports coverage on the news, I though to myself, that can't be too big. After all, how many countries can there be in the British Commonwealth? I counted the big players - England, India, Australia, New Zealand, the other countries that make up Great Britain countries - and added a few small islands here or there. Inflating my guess, I thought maybe 30.
Well, it may surprise most people in the US to know that there is another Olympic-like sporting event going on this week and next in Delhi, India. It is the Commonwealth Games, attended by athletes from countries who are members of the British Commonwealth, of which New Zealand is part. (For more info on the Commonwealth, visit http://www.thecommonwealth.org/.)
Now, when I first heard talk of this while watching sports coverage on the news, I though to myself, that can't be too big. After all, how many countries can there be in the British Commonwealth? I counted the big players - England, India, Australia, New Zealand, the other countries that make up Great Britain countries - and added a few small islands here or there. Inflating my guess, I thought maybe 30.
71!! That's right - 71 countries participate in the Commonwealth games, sending over 6000 athletes. That is twice as large as the winter Olympics. Who would've thought?? To see the complete list of nations competing in the Commonwealth games, click here.
Many of the sports that take place are the same as those at the summer Olympics. In fact, there are some Olympic gold medal winners and world record holders at the Games. But, there are a few sports that seem uniquely Commonwealth. Take lawn bowling (a combination of curling without the ice and bocce). Yup, lawn bowling is a Commonwealth Games sport.
Another excellent sport that is unique to the Commonwealth Games is netball. We covered netball in an earlier blog, but remember, it is a women only game at the professional level. On the flip side, there is a male only sport played at the Commonwealth Games called Rugby 7's. I don't know the exact format other than that it's seven-a-side rugby. Enough said.
Surprisingly, there is no cricket played at the Commonwealth Games! That may be due to the amount of international competition that occurs in it's own right kinda like soccer. That and an international cricket game takes like 5 days to play. Yes, that is 5 days for a single game. I'm sure we will revisit cricket later in our New Zealand adventure. I am getting pretty good at the rules, so stay tuned.
In total, there are 260 events at the Commonwealth Games, covering 17 different sporting disciplines. By comparison, there were 308 events across 28 sports at the 2008 summer Olympics. This is no small event. They have not adopted any of the X-games style sports (yet) that the Olympics have like BMX biking.
Many of the sports that take place are the same as those at the summer Olympics. In fact, there are some Olympic gold medal winners and world record holders at the Games. But, there are a few sports that seem uniquely Commonwealth. Take lawn bowling (a combination of curling without the ice and bocce). Yup, lawn bowling is a Commonwealth Games sport.
Another excellent sport that is unique to the Commonwealth Games is netball. We covered netball in an earlier blog, but remember, it is a women only game at the professional level. On the flip side, there is a male only sport played at the Commonwealth Games called Rugby 7's. I don't know the exact format other than that it's seven-a-side rugby. Enough said.
Surprisingly, there is no cricket played at the Commonwealth Games! That may be due to the amount of international competition that occurs in it's own right kinda like soccer. That and an international cricket game takes like 5 days to play. Yes, that is 5 days for a single game. I'm sure we will revisit cricket later in our New Zealand adventure. I am getting pretty good at the rules, so stay tuned.
In total, there are 260 events at the Commonwealth Games, covering 17 different sporting disciplines. By comparison, there were 308 events across 28 sports at the 2008 summer Olympics. This is no small event. They have not adopted any of the X-games style sports (yet) that the Olympics have like BMX biking.
It's funny how this huge sporting event doesn't even hit the radar of the American sports media outlets. Oh well. Go New Zealand!
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