The 19th Commonwealth Games was concluded in New Delhi, where the Indians held a multi-sport event for the third time in their history, after hosting the Asian Games in 1951 & 1982. The games were marred by poor preparations, lesser spectators for the sporting events and many other scandals. However, what compelled me to make a post on this topic were the efforts and achievements of some Sri Lankan athletes including (but not limited to) Manju Wanniarachchi, Chinthana Vidanage, Sudesh Pieris and Chaminda Wijekoon.
Australia topped the medals tally, with a 74 Gold Medals and a total of 177 Medals.
The games were held in Asia for the second time, as the games in 1998 were hosted by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be hosted by Glasgow, Scotland.
Summary of Commonwealth Games , 2010
- Nations participated - 71
- Athletes participated – 6,081
- Events – 272
- Chief Organizer – Suresh Kalmadi (Chief Executive Officer and Indian Olympic Association president)
- Business Today magazine estimated that the Games cost 300 bn Indian Rupees ($6.8 bn). The 2010 Commonwealth Games are the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever (not adjusted for inflation).
- Official Mascot - "Shera", an anthropomorphized tiger
- Official Song - "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto" was composed and performed by the Indian musician A. R. Rahman
Events & Medals
- Botswana and the Cayman Islands won their first ever Commonwealth games gold medals.
- Australian swimmer Alicia Coutts emerged as the most successful athlete with five gold medals.
- The winner of 100m (Sally Pearson of Australia) was stripped off with her gold medal, due to being tested positive with drugs.
- Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang gave India the 1st gold medal in Commonwealth Games 2010.The pair won the 1st spot in the 10M Air Rifle men’s event.
- Manju Wanniarachchi made Sri Lanka proud in the 2010 Games by winning the Gold Medal in Boxing Bantam Weight 56-kilo category. This was the second occasion where a boxer won a Gold Medal for Sri Lanka in Commonwealth Games.
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| Manju Wanniarachchi |
- The first ever Gold Medal in Commonwealth Games for Sri Lanka was won by Barney Henricus in 1938 in the Featherweight category.
- Chinthana Vidanage and Sudesh Pieris bagged a silver medal and bronze medal respectively with their weight lifting events.
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| Chinthana Vidanage |
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