Articles on Commonwealth Games

Displaying 1 - 20 of 26 articles

The Gold Coast is preparing to host the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth Games. AAP

May 5, 2017

For cities, hosting major sporting events is a double-edged sword

David Rowe, Western Sydney University

Investing in staging sport is ultimately a matter of turning the entire host environment into a stage.

The author competing at the 2012 London Paralympics. Australian Paralympic Committee

September 13, 2016

First person: how the Paralympics changed my life

Richard Nicholson, University of Canberra

Richard Nicholson has experienced first hand the evolution of the Paralympics, and with it, the shift in perception of disabilities and para-athletes.

Cathy Freeman was criticised for flying the Aboriginal flag at the 1994 Commonwealth Games but the same act at the Sydney 2000 Olympics was hailed as a moment of reconciliation. Reuters/Jerry Lampen

August 17, 2016

Why being a sporting role model isn’t as simple as most people think

Katrina Hutchison, Macquarie University

Athletes are increasingly expected to be good role models. But we don’t usually expect them to sacrifice their chance of winning to help others.

Seabelo Senatla of South Africa scores a try against New Zealand during the gold medal match of the Rugby Sevens at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Reuters/Russell Cheyne

September 8, 2015

What South Africa will be sacrificing by hosting the Commonwealth Games

Peter Vale, University of Johannesburg

By investing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, South Africa sacrifices investment in pressing societal needs. Instead, the country should be mobilised around the national goal of fixing schooling.

Leaders at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November 2013. Malta will host the next one in November 2015. Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte

September 7, 2015

Why the Commonwealth endures despite being written off by the left and the right

Keith Gottschalk, University of the Western Cape

The Commonwealth is politically fraught, with widely divergent members. But, instead of unravelling as some critics wish, it has instead inspired copycats and appears set to grow and endure.

If they want to get kids on the pitch, Plaid will have to address inequalities. joncandy/Flickr

April 8, 2015

Manifesto Check: Plaid Cymru’s sports policy – a good shot, but missed opportunity

Grant Jarvie, University of Edinburgh and Paul Widdop, Leeds Beckett University

Plaid Cymru scores with Inspire Wales programme, but fails to grasp the bigger picture when it comes to sports.

Indians are hoping for another Cricket World Cup victory. EPA

March 3, 2015

India’s booming, so why is it so bad at sport (apart from cricket)

Simon Chadwick, Coventry University

r all of India’s cricketing passion, economic strength and for that matter its population size, the country is arguably the world’s most under-achieving sporting nation.

August 5, 2014

Glasgow’s para-sport legacy must change behaviour as well as attitudes

Tom Nightingale, University of Bath

The 2014 Commonwealth Games have been praised for integrating the para-sports programme into the main schedule and including the medals in the tally of each nation. The London Olympics in 2012 told a similar…

Jubilation in 2011 after the Gold Coast scored the 2018 Commonwealth Games … but will they be worth it? AAP/Patrick Hamilton

August 4, 2014

Gold Coast Games will struggle to stay relevant – here’s why

Tom Heenan, Monash University

Goodbye Glasgow and hello Gold Coast. The Commonwealth Games will return Down Under in 2018 and already there are bold projections: Gold Coast Games Federation chair Nigel Chamier expects the creation…

The legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be a grey area for years to come. Daniel0685/Flickr

August 4, 2014

The Glasgow games are over but the legacy debate continues

Kenneth Gibb, University of Glasgow

The 20th Commonwealth Games have come and gone. Glasgow has demonstrated that it can successfully deliver a large-scale, global, multi-sport and cultural event. It can fill the stadia, shuttle people around…

The last African games bid from Abuja fell short in Sri Lanka in 2007. EPA

August 4, 2014

It is time to let Africa host the Commonwealth Games

Grant Jarvie, University of Edinburgh

With the end of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, it is tempting to suggest that its success might just have saved the event. Certainly what has not been in question is that its future has been in doubt…

Good with shuttlecocks: the Adcocks. Peter Byrne/PA

August 1, 2014

When being good at badminton is the secret to a happy marriage

Jessica Pinchbeck, The Open University

One intriguing subplot during the Commonwealth Games has been the progress of English husband-and-wife team Chris and Gabby Adcock in the badminton mixed-doubles. The couple are a good bet for a gold medal…

Javelin throwers make it look easy, but there’s more to the action than you might think. David Davies/PA Wire

July 31, 2014

Science of the spear: biomechanics of a javelin throw

Mike Barber, Australian Institute of Sport

The Commonwealth Games women’s javelin finals were held overnight, with Aussies Kim Mickle and Kelsey-Lee Roberts picking up gold (plus a Games record) and bronze respectively. Seven-time British champion…

Emma McKeon, Alicia Coutts, Brittany Elmslie and Bronte Barratt after winning the 4x200m Freestyle Final. Emma and Brittany are also undergraduate students at Griffith University. Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

July 30, 2014

Nail it or fail it – how student athletes juggle sport and study

Duncan Free, Griffith University

Australia sent 417 athletes to the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games – its largest ever contingent – and based on our 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Games competitors, around 40% are university students…

The miles of high fence separating east end Glaswegians from games athletes. Hilary Mooney

July 30, 2014

Behind the fence: the side of Glasgow games you’re not meant to see

Gerry Mooney, The Open University; Kirsteen Paton, University of Leeds, and Vikki McCall, University of Stirling

Since the Commonwealth Games got underway, much praise has been heaped on the city and its population for the event’s apparent success so far (even if Usain Bolt was alleged to have suggested otherwise…

The dear green place, a year or two ago.

July 29, 2014

Host City Glasgow: ten things the tourist guides probably never mentioned

Gerry Mooney, The Open University

So you’ve travelled to the Commonwealth Games, you’ve done the standard tourist route and you’ve figured out that your English phrase book is not much cop. Panic no more. Here is your essential guide to…

Medals for para-sport events in the Commonwealth Games, such as para-cycling tandem sprint, count towards national medal tallies. Tim Ireland/PA Wire

July 27, 2014

Integration not segregation: para-sports at the Glasgow Games

Simon Darcy, University of Technology Sydney

Australian athletes at the Commonwealth Games won a stack of medals over the weekend, bringing the nation to the top of the medal tally. Of the Aussie medal winners, para-swimmer Daniel Fox took gold in…

I’d like Scottish independence and a large fries, please. Scottish Government

July 23, 2014

Any nationalist sugar rush from the Commonwealth Games is unlikely to last long

Michael Silk, University of Bath

Celtic Park is hosting one of the biggest spectacles in the sporting calendar. The 40,000 spectators will be treated to the vagaries of the sports-media-entertainment complex: Rod Stewart, Susan Boyle…

The Commonwealth is not quite the hoped for beacon of tolerance. EPA

July 23, 2014

The Commonwealth can play a role in the worldwide struggle for LGBTI human rights

Matthew Waites, University of Glasgow

On Nelson Mandela International Day on July 18, academic and activist speakers from a range of national contexts came together in Glasgow for a groundbreaking conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender…

World’s fastest man will be glued to the baton stick. Adam Davy/PA

July 17, 2014

Tax, ads and prestige: why Usain Bolt won’t be centre stage this Commonwealth Games

Ellis Cashmore, Staffordshire University

If you’re grumbling about the number of athletes who have opted out of or are still prevaricating about whether to compete in the Commonwealth Games, blame Usain Bolt. The most charismatic and globally…

Top contributors

Grant Jarvie
Chair of Sport and Head of the Academy of Sport, University of Edinburgh
Gerry Mooney
Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Criminology, The Open University
Simon Darcy
Professor & Co-Director Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre - UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
Brian Stoddart
Distinguished Fellow, Australia-India Institute, University of Melbourne
David Rowe
Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
Simon Chadwick
Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of Salford
Tom Heenan
Lecturer, National Centre for Australian Studies, Faculty of Arts, Monash University
Kenneth Gibb
Professor of Housing Economics, University of Glasgow
Rosie Findlay
Teaching Fellow, University of Sydney
Keith Gottschalk
Political Scientist, University of the Western Cape
Michael Silk
Professor of Sport and Social Sciences, Bournemouth University
John H McKendrick
Senior Lecturer, Glasgow Caledonian University
Ellis Cashmore
Visiting Professor, Aston University
Karly Kehoe
Senior Lecturer in History, Glasgow Caledonian University
Neil Blain
Professor Emeritus of Communications, University of Stirling