Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sportGet our free Inside Sport newsletterGet our free Inside Sport newsletterThe Commonwealth Games might be the only sporting event for which the most-Googled terms are asking what they are and why they exist. One of the top stories on BBC Sport at the time of writing was simply headlined: “What are the Commonwealth Games?”It’s a good question. They are an anachronistic idea, vaguely defined, thinly justified, a relic of our imperial past, like a mildly offensive heirloom quadrennially hauled down from the attic, modern sport’s unwelcome inheritance from another age.So yes, the so-called Friendly Games are clearly a little unloved, given the battle to find a willing host. They were tossed aside by Melbourne before a stripped-back version was salvaged by Glasgow, a rescue Games. They are not fully respected, given not all the stars will show up over the next 10 days. Keely Hodgkinson is prioritising other events. Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh is focused on the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, preferring to compete against serious American rivals rather than a bunch of island nations.The Games might even be hard to find, given they are behind a paywall on TNT Sports in the UK, with only highlights on Channel 5.But dig under the surface and there is history here. The Games were the scene of the “Miracle Mile”, an epic contest between Roger Bannister and John Landy when both broke the four-minute barrier; they were the stage on which a 15-year-old Ian Thorpe announced himself to the world, where Adam Peaty broke new ground, where Eilish McColgan made history rhyme 30 years after her mum won the same race.And if the weight of history doesn’t imbue the modern Commonwealth Games in quite the same way, then perhaps there is something easy and compelling about sport with relatively low stakes, sport that has little commercial pretence, naked sport that’s all the more human for it. There will be no political interference here, no dynamic pricing strategy, no advertising masquerading as essential hydration. Thanks to the Boston Tea Party, there will be no Americans either.The Commonwealth Games has plenty of entertaining sport on offer (Getty/The Independent)The Commonwealth Games’ days may be numbered, like county cricket or League Cup semi-final second legs, but perhaps that’s one reason to settle in and watch this jumble of sport. You don’t…
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2026-07-23 13:31:12
