POSTED: September 30th 2010

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JOHN GOODBODY: Commonwealth Games still relevant to this sporting life

THE JOHN GOODBODY COLUMN / An authoritative and exclusive series from Sports Features Communications

LONDON, Sep 30:  The Commonwealth Games have a unique place in the international sporting calendar. The event is not genuinely global , like world championships, but the participating countries come from every continent.

The event is not based on geographic location, as are competitions such as the European Championships, Asian Games or Pan American Games. They are not confined to one religion, such as the Maccabiah Games in Israel. The quadrennial Games are based on a historical anachronism, countries which were part of the British Empire.

The problems in Delhi, where the Games are due to open on Sunday,  were always likely to be immense, given the need for intense security, the fact that insufficient work was done before 2008 and that India is not used to staging a competition of this magnitude.

However, the flow of reports over the last year, including allegations that corruption in the building of facilities was rife, reached a peak last week, when a series of incidents immediately threatened the actual staging of the Games.

Health fears

They included the collapse of a pedestrian bridge near the main stadium, injuring at least 35 people; pools of stagnant water close to the Athletes’ Village, thus raising the fear of competitors catching daegu; and the fact that parts of the Village, due to house 7,000 competitors,  were so dirty that Mike Fennell, the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, described them as “shocking.”

Nwonder Sir Andrew Foster, chairman of Commonwealth Games England, said that holding the event “hangs on a knife edge.”

England seems to have played a well-judged role in restoring confidence in the event, despite the  withdrawal last week of three defending athletics champions, 400m star Christine Ohuruogo and 1500m runner Lisa Dobriskey, through injury and also Phillips Idowu, the world triple jump title-holder, because of safety fears.

England showed its solidarity with the event  when the first party of competitors arrived last Friday but sensibly stayed in a hotel until the Village was habitable and then 48 athletes  and officials moved in on Sunday. The implication was clear: we have turned up, we want to compete, now allow us to do so in decent and safe conditions.

However, it remains questionable whether the event still has relevance in a world where so many global events have overtaken the Commonwealth Games in importance.

Seasonal demands

For British athletes this event is staged at the end of a season, when the European Championships have been the highlight. However, for Australia, British, and Canadian swimmers, the Games are the highlight of the year and their clash is of international significance in the sport.

In other activities, the standard  varies. However, this is not entirely the point in any discussion of whether the Games will or even should continue. The Commonwealth Games are an excellent introduction and opportunity for youngsters to take part in a multi-sports event.

Many competitors who have participated in them describe the Games as one of the highlights of their lives. For teenagers, it is an eye-opening experience.

The Games are also the one physical manifestation of the Commonwealth, in which citizens of the member nations meet one another. For those who wish for the friendship between representatives of these nations to endure, the staging of the Games is vital.

This is why I will be watching and applauding the competitions and I suspect many other people across the world will too.

** JOHN GOODBODY covered the 2008 Olympics for The Sunday Times, his 11th successive Summer Games and is the author of the audio book A History of the Olympics, read by Barry Davies, the BBC commentator. He was Sports News Correspondent of The Times 1986-2007, for whom he received journalistic awards in all three decades on the paper, including Sports Reporter of The Year in 2001

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