2022 Commonwealth Games
The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England between 28 July and 8 August 2022. They were the 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games. It was the third and seventh time England and the United Kingdom hosted the Commonwealth Games, respectively.
4,822 athletes, including 311 para athletes from 72 Commonwealth Games Associations took part in the event. The event took place at 15 venues across Birmingham, West Midlands and London and featured 19 Commonwealth sports. It was also the first major multi-sport event to have more events for women than men and had the largest integrated para-sport programme in the history of the Commonwealth Games with 8 para sports.
Australia topped the medal table by both total golds and total medals, with host nation England finishing second with 58 golds and 176 total medals and Canada finishing third with 26 golds and 92 total medals. India finished fourth with 22 gold and 61 total medals, and New Zealand finished fifth with 20 gold and 49 total medals. Niue won its first ever Commonwealth Games medal.
Birmingham was announced as the host city on 21 December 2017. The event marked the last time that the Commonwealth Games were held under Queen Elizabeth II prior to her death on 8 September of that year, which was exactly one month after the conclusion of the Games. The event contributed £1.2 billion to the economy of the United Kingdom.
Host selection
Two cities initially launched bids for the games: Durban, South Africa, and Edmonton, Canada. Edmonton withdrew its bid in February 2015, leaving Durban as the only bid to go forward to CGF General Assembly in September 2015. Durban initially secured the right to host the games, as they were the sole bidder for the event. The city previously considered bidding for the 2020 or 2024 Summer Olympics, but later dropped the idea as it wanted to focus on the 2022 Commonwealth Games. It would have marked the first time the games were held in Africa and the second time a Commonwealth republic would have hosted, following Delhi, India, in 2010. The games were set to open on 18 July 2022, coinciding with the birthday of the late South African president, Nelson Mandela. It was reported in February 2017 that Durban might be unable to host the games due to financial constraints. This was confirmed one month later on 13 March 2017 when the CGF stripped Durban of their rights to host the Games.The bidding process for the 2022 Commonwealth Games was relaunched in March 2017 where English cities Birmingham and Liverpool expressed their interests in hosting the Games. On 14 March 2017, Manchester also expressed an interest in hosting the Games.By April 2017, the British Government asked city councils to submit proposals for hosting the 2022 Games. Only Birmingham and Liverpool submitted official applications to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. London declined to bid, as it was focusing its efforts on preparing for the World Athletics Championships|World Athletics] and 2017 [World Para Athletics Championships|Para Athletics Championships]. On 27 April 2017, Manchester City Council announced that Manchester would not bid for the Games but could co-host the Games with other English cities. In early September 2017, Birmingham was selected over Liverpool for the recommended bid for England.
The CGF announced that the deadline for the submission of bids was 30 September 2017 and its executive board was expected to announce the host by the end of 2017. Commonwealth Games England submitted the Birmingham bid before the deadline to the CGF to host the 2022 Games. However, it was announced that the bid was not fully compliant, and the bidding process was extended until 30 November 2017. The CGF had 170 questions regarding Birmingham's bid. On 21 December 2017, Birmingham was awarded for the 2022 Games as Durban's replacement host. Louise Martin, president of the CGF, made the official announcement at a press conference at the Arena Academy in Birmingham.
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| Birmingham |  Development and preparationThe Birmingham Organising Committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games was responsible for the planning and operational delivery of the Games. This includes sport, venue and competition management, ticket sales, all ceremonies and the Queen's Baton Relay. The headquarters of the organising committee is located in One Brindleyplace building and has taken up the office until December 2022.In March 2018, the BOCCG paid £25 million fee to the CGF for the right to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The fee included the £20 million for the Games hosting charges and £5 million for the development work in the Commonwealth. In July 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed John Crabtree as Chair of the BOCCG. In January 2019, Ian Reid was announced as chief executive officer of the BOCCG. On 6 June 2019, the British Government introduced the Commonwealth Games Bill which ensured the prohibition of unauthorised sales of Games tickets, effective flow of transport around Games venues, complete protection of commercial rights, and compliance with financial propriety rules by the government's funding of the BOCCG. The bill received royal assent and was passed into law as the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Act 2020 on 25 June 2020. In June 2020, it was announced that the entire schedule of the Games would be offset by one day to reduce conflicts with sporting events rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the UEFA Euro 2020, the 2020 Summer Olympics, the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, and the final days of the 2022 World Athletics Championships. All athletes and officials are required to test negative for COVID-19 on a PCR test before departure and upon arrival; infections during the Games will be handled on a case-by-case basis, with athletes not necessarily required to withdraw or publicly disclose their infection. Commonwealth Games Australia considered the protocols to be less stringent and more "relaxed" than expected, and stated that it planned to impose stricter biosecurity protocols on its athletes to ensure their safety. VenuesThe 2022 Commonwealth Games took place in 15 venues spread across the West Midlands region, with seven of them, including the athletics stadium and marathon route, located in the city of Birmingham. The National Exhibition Centre complex, located on the fringes of the city in neighbouring Solihull, hosted events in its exhibition halls and at the Resorts World Arena. The six other regional hosts were Coventry, Cannock Chase, Royal Leamington Spa, Sandwell, Warwick and Wolverhampton. A sixteenth venue, the Lee Valley VeloPark in Stratford, East London, hosted the track cycling.The following venues were used for the Games:
Athletes' villagewas selected to be the site of the athlete's village, with plans made to demolish the former Birmingham City University campus after the university had moved to a new campus. The new village was supposed to house up to 6,500 athletes and officials during the games and then become 1,400 new homes after the games, as part of a wider regeneration effort. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, construction of the village fell significantly behind schedule but the games' dates were not pushed back to accommodate this. Because the village would not be ready in time for the games, on 11 August 2020 the BOCCG announced that the athletes and team officials will be housed in three 'campus' villages close to competition venues at the University of Birmingham, the University of Warwick, and the NEC. Around 1,600 athletes and officials were set to be accommodated at the NEC campus, 1,900 at the University of Warwick campus, and 2,800 at the University of Birmingham campus. In 2023, a year after the games had taken place and the first of the village's housing had been finished, the site was still uninhabited and described as a 'ghost village'. In 2024, two years after the games, the council announced that it was going to sell a majority of the homes to a private developer - with a total loss of £320m expected. The large losses from the village will compound on the council's existing financial troubles.TransportThe A34 flyover in Perry Barr was demolished in favour of a dual carriageway at ground level, cycle path and improved public transport services which were approved by Birmingham City Council in October 2019 under its £27.1 million scheme.The city council announced in January 2020 that the existing National Express Bus Depot in Perry Barr would be demolished as the depot site would be used to construct the phase two of the athletes' village. A replacement depot will be constructed on a largely council-owned land on nearby Aston Lane, at a cost of £16 million, eight times the original estimate. The University railway station, which serves the University of Birmingham, was planned to be renovated and was expected to be complete in time for the Games. The station would make way for the University of Birmingham, which was due to host hockey and squash events for the Games. The new station was not finished in time for the event. The Perry Barr railway station building was rebuilt and the platforms renovated as part of the £30.9 million project in Perry Barr and opened on May 29, 2022. Transport for West Midlands was scheduled to provide the city's first continuous cross-city bus route in time for the Games. The new Sprint bus route was to run an express service along the A34 and A45 between Walsall and Birmingham Airport and Solihull to Walsall via the city centre. The service will be zero-emission with priority signals and extended bus lanes, along with "a swift boarding experience" to improve journey times and reliability. In February 2020 it was announced that the West Midlands Combined Authority Board was planning to approve the £88 million funding and delivery schedule for Sprint in advance of the Games, to offer commuters and the Games visitors services to key venues including Alexander Stadium, Arena Birmingham and the Resorts World Arena. As of November 2023, the service has yet to commence running. Cost and financingAt the time of submission of the bid to the CGF, the bid committee announced that the event would cost £750 million. On 25 June 2019, the British Government announced that the event costed £778 million. The British Government covered 75% and Birmingham City Council covered the remaining 25%. The budget is lower than the £967 million spent on the Gold Coast 2018, but higher than the £543 million spent on the Glasgow 2014. It is set to be the most expensive sporting event in the UK since the 2012 Summer Olympics in London which cost £8.8 billion. The real cost will be published after completion.TicketingOver 1.3 million tickets were sold for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, which made the event the most attended Commonwealth Games ever to take place in the United Kingdom. A ticket ballot for local residents opened on 14 July 2021, with the main public ticket ballot running from 8 to 30 September 2021.SecurityThe West Midlands Police said around 3,000 officers would be deployed to patrol the 2022 Commonwealth Games. 1,000 of these were to come from West Midlands Police and 2000 from a "mutual aid" arrangement with other UK forces. Additionally, private drones were banned over a no-fly zone and 55 police dogs were also part of the security plan.FestivalThe 2022 Commonwealth Games was accompanied by a six-month long cultural event called the Birmingham 2022 Festival. It had been billed as "the biggest celebration of creativity ever seen in the region" and was taking place in the host city and throughout the West Midlands. With more than 200 events planned, it was one of the biggest cultural programmes ever hosted during the Commonwealth Games. Events took place before and after the 2022 Games, which took place between July 28 and August 8, 2022, from March to September 2022.Queen's baton relayThe Queen's baton of the 2022 Commonwealth Games was unveiled 29 September 2021. Designed as a collaboration between Birmingham Open Media, Raymont-Osman Product Design, Maokwo and Kajul, it is constructed using lost-wax casting, 3D Printing, copper plating and CNC machining. It incorporates copper, aluminium, and brass metals symbolising medals, and a strip of platinum in observance of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. It also contains a 360-degree camera, an LED lighting system tied to a heart rate monitor, and sensors to record environmental conditions—whose data will be analysed by a team at the University of Birmingham following the relay.Laura Nyahuye, who led the team of five artists at Maokwo, stated that the baton was designed to "relate" to the countries and residents of the Commonwealth, and reflect the "authenticity and honesty" of its journey; these goals were met by avoiding the use of precious metals, and through its use of copper—which is designed to oxidise and develop a teal patina over the course of the relay. The relay began on 7 October 2021 at Buckingham Palace in London, and lasted for 294 days—travelling through 72 Commonwealth nations and territories. After placing her message inside the baton, Queen Elizabeth II presented it to British Paralympic athlete and cyclist Kadeena Cox. During the opening ceremony, the baton was delivered to Charles, Prince of Wales, who read the Queen's message to officially open the Games. Opening ceremonyThe opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games were held at Alexander Stadium on the evening of 28 July 2022. Director Iqbal Khan stated that the ceremony would aim to showcase the "vivid and vibrant confidence" of Birmingham. It was headlined by Birmingham-based new wave band Duran Duran, while Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath–who is also a Birmingham native–performed alongside Soweto Kinch during a segment of the ceremony.Closing ceremonyThe closing ceremony took place on 8 August 2022 at Alexander Stadium, and included the formal handover to the Australian state of Victoria, then host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games prior to its withdrawal nearly a year later before being replaced by Glasgow as the replacement host city, in a segment headlined by Vanessa Amorosi. The ceremony featured tributes to the industrial history of Birmingham, the Windrush generation and Birmingham TV show Peaky Blinders, and included performances from a number of famous West Midlands musicians and groups, including Dexys Midnight Runners, UB40, Panjabi MC, Musical Youth, Goldie, Beverley Knight, Apache Indian, Jorja Smith, the Selecter, and Laura Mvula. The grand finale featured a surprise appearance by Ozzy Osbourne in his first live performance in three years, joined by Tony Iommi and former touring members of Black Sabbath Tommy Clufetos and Adam Wakeman for a medley of "Iron Man" and "Paranoid".Participating associationsAll 72 Commonwealth Games Associations sent athletes to the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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Anguilla|2022|13
Australia|2022