A record 4 500 athletes from 71 nations will compete in 16 sports in the biggest Commonwealth Games yet staged, getting underway in Melbourne next week.
Fifty years after hosting the Olympic Games, Australia’s second-biggest city of 3,5-million people will host the fourth Empire/Commonwealth Games in Australia, following those in Sydney (1938), Perth (1962) and Brisbane (1982).
Fighting criticism of relevancy in a fast-evolving world, the 18th edition of the Commonwealth Games will once again lean heavily on its moniker as ”the Friendly Games”, differentiating itself from the multi-faceted Olympics.
The sporting powers of the British Commonwealth — Australia, England and Canada — will again dominate the medals, with New Zealand, South Africa, India, Scotland and Kenya also expected to figure prominently on the medals tally.
Yet the Commonwealth family also embraces its tiny member states, with diverse nations such as Gambia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Cayman Islands, St Kitts & Nevis, Maldives, Brunei, Vanuatu, Niue, Kiribati and the Falkland Islands coming to the big party.
Australia is splashing out over $740-million to ensure the success of the Melbourne Games, with funding coming from the Australian government, the Victorian state government and corporate sponsorship.
A VIP list of Queen Elizabeth II, Nelson Mandela and British Prime Minister Tony Blair head a list of 400 world leaders, celebrities, business chiefs and sporting greats invited to attend.
The Games will be seen by an estimated global audience of up to 1,5-billion people each day, including the prime American market for the first time. The Victorian state government expects some 100 000 Australian and overseas visitors to come to the Games, which has necessitated a major security operation.
The federal government will devote $65-million to security. Fighter jets and helicopters will circle Melbourne’s skies at the opening and closing ceremonies, and a 75-kilometre no-fly zone will help shield the city from terrorist attacks. There will also be an exclusion zone around the athletes’ village.
More than 1 200 troops will join 13 000 police, 5 000 private security guards and squads of counter-terrorism experts to protect the Games.
Major infrastructure work has been carried out to deliver sporting venues and the athletes’ village. The 100 000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), major venue of the 1956 Olympics, has been renovated with new stands and the installation of an athletics track at a total cost of $320-million.
The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre has been expanded at a cost of $40-million, and the athletes’ village, which is to accommodate 6 000 competitors and officials, has been constructed on a 27ha site.
A giant tent, which is able to seat 1 800 athletes, has been put up in the village, and will be open around the clock, serving 20 000 meals daily. The village has 155 permanent houses, 68 apartments, 14 townhouses and 115 temporary cabins, plus its own police station and post office.
In peak times there will be buses arriving or leaving the athletes’ village 180 times an hour — one every 20 seconds.
Following on from the success of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, volunteers will again feature prominently in the Games’ workforce, with some 15 000 comprising the 30 000 workers.
The Queen’s Baton relay, claimed to be the world’s longest and most inclusive, travelling more than 180 000km through all 71 Commonwealth nations, is scheduled to arrive at the MCG during the opening ceremony on March 15.
Australia won 82 gold medals at the last Games in Manchester in 2002, and hopes to do better here. But for all the hype and hoopla, almost half-a-million tickets still remain unsold.
Organisers have released new tickets for some previously ”sold-out” high-profile events — gymnastics, netball, basketball and athletics finals. No tickets to the popular diving, swimming, synchronised swimming or track cycling sessions have been returned. About 1-million tickets have been sold so far.
Ten days out from the start there were more than 16 000 empty seats for the opening ceremony.
A row also erupted over whether God Save the Queen should be played in tribute to Queen Elizabeth, who will be at the ceremony to officially declare the Games open.
Organisers had resisted calls, backed by monarchist Australia Prime Minister John Howard, for the British national anthem to be played. They said they had the backing of Buckingham Palace to play only Advance Australia Fair at the opening.
But it was later revealed that eight bars of the Queen’s anthem would be included in a musical tribute as a compromise. — Sapa