2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March 2006. It was the fourth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games. It was also the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.
More than 4,000 athletes from 71 Commonwealth Games Associations took part in the event. Zimbabwe withdrew its membership from the Commonwealth of Nations and Commonwealth Games Federation on 8 December 2003 and so did not participate in the event. With 245 sets of medals, the games featured 17 Commonwealth sports. These sporting events took place at 13 venues in the host city, two venues in Bendigo and one venue each in Ballarat, Geelong, Lysterfield Park and Traralgon.
The site for the opening and closing ceremonies was the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was also used during the 1956 Olympics. The mascot for the games was Karak, a red-tailed black cockatoo. The official song of the games, "Together We Are One", was composed by the ARIA awardee Australian recording artist Delta Goodrem. During the closing ceremony of the games, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation Mike Fennell declared to the crowd "Melbourne, you are simply the best".
For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games, the Queen's Baton visited every single Commonwealth nation and territory taking part in the Games, a journey of. The relay ended when the Governor of Victoria, and former Commonwealth Games medallist, John Landy delivered the baton to Her Majesty the Queen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the opening ceremony.
The host nation Australia topped the medal table for the fifth time in the past five Commonwealth Games, winning the most golds and most medals overall. England and Canada finished second and third respectively.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games have been lauded as “best Commonwealth Games ever”. A KPMG analysis of 2006 Commonwealth Games found the event prompted an increase in gross state product of about A$1.6 billion over a 20-year period and employment of about 13,600 jobs.
Host selection
Having previously hosted the 1956 Olympics, Melbourne has hosted world sporting events such as the 1979 World Fencing Championships. The city made a bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, but was unsuccessful in its bid to Atlanta. Following the failure of the Olympic bid, the city would later make plans to host the Commonwealth Games. During the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, two cities initially expressed interest in hosting the event; Melbourne, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand. Wellington withdrew its bid, citing the costs involved with matching the bid plan presented by Melbourne, which became the default host without members of the Federation going to vote.| City | Nation | Votes | |
| Melbourne | ''' AustraliaPreparation and developmentVenuesThe following venues were used at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The sport that were played at that venue are listed after it.Melbourne venues
; Bendigo: Bendigo Stadium: Basketball Wellsford Rifle Range: Full Bore Shooting ; Geelong:Geelong Arena: Basketball ; Lysterfield Park: State Mountain Bike Course: Mountain Bike Cycling ; Traralgon: Traralgon Sports Stadium: Basketball CostEarly concerns arose about the large cost of staging the event, with projected costs likely to be over AUD 1 billion and a high likelihood the Victorian taxpayer would have to cover the expense. The cost was described in some local media as excessive. National Party leader Peter Ryan said that the Labor government should win "gold for burning money". However, not all of this money was wasted. The actual costs for hosting the games was AUD 1.144 billion and prior to the Games, accountants at KPMG were estimating that the gross income generated by this event could be as high as AUD 1.5 billion.Athletes' villageAn athlete's village in the inner suburb of Parkville housed approximately 7,000 athletes and support staff during the Games, and has been transformed into commercial housing with a distinctly eco-friendly image. The creation of this village attracted controversy, with critics claiming it was created by alienating public parkland, while proponents maintained that it represented the renewal of an otherwise derelict inner-city area.DevelopmentThe change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time in Australian states that follow it was delayed from 26 March to 2 April for 2006 to avoid affecting the games. In addition, state and private schools amended their usual term times so as to allow the first term holidays to coincide with the Games.Melbourne's public transport system – train, tram and bus – ran to altered timetables with some amended or substituted services for the duration of the Games. For the most part, timetabled services were unchanged but suffered due to higher loads. For the first time ever, the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games appointed a Goodwill Partner, Plan International Australia. Opening ceremonyBoth the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Yarra River were centrepieces for the ceremony, which included many fireworks, and other spectacle. The Games were opened by Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also Head of State of a number of Commonwealth countries.Closing ceremonyBoth the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Yarra River were again centrepieces for the ceremony. Samresh Jung of India was given the David Dixon Award at the closing ceremony. He was the "Best Athlete of the 18th Commonwealth Games". The games were closed by The Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward.Participating teamsThere were 71 countries, territories and bodies competing at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The only difference is the roster between the 2006 games and the 2002 games was the absence of Zimbabwe, which had withdrawn from the Commonwealth of Nations.Image:Commonwealth games 2006 countries map.PNG|thumb|Countries and places competing at the games|center|550x550px
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