Commonwealth Games - Editions

Editions

The first edition of the event was the 1930 British Empire Games and eleven nations took part. The quadrennial schedule of the games was interrupted by the Second World War and the 1942 Games (set to be held in Montreal) and the 1946 Games were abandoned. The games were continued in 1950 and underwent a name change four years later with the first British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954. Over 1000 athletes participated in the 1958 Games as over thirty teams took part for the first time.

The event was briefly known as the British Commonwealth Games for the 1970 and 1974 editions and the 1978 Games, held in Edmonton, Canada, were the first to be held under the title of the "Commonwealth Games". The Edmonton event marked a new high as almost 1500 athletes from 46 countries took part.

Nigeria was the first country to boycott the Commonwealth Games in 1978 in protest over New Zealand's sporting contacts with South Africa. Participation at the 1986 Games was affected by a boycott by 32 African and Caribbean nations in protest to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's refusal to condemn sporting contacts of Apartheid era South Africa in 1985, but the Games rebounded and continued to grow thereafter. The 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia saw the sporting programme grow from 10 to 15 sports as team sports were allowed for the first time. Participation also reached new levels as over 3500 athletes represented 70 teams at the event. At the Games in Melbourne in 2006, over 4000 athletes took part in sporting competitions.

The three nations to have hosted the games the most number of times are Australia (5), Canada (4) and New Zealand (3). Furthermore, six editions have taken place, or will take place, in the countries within the United Kingdom (Scotland 3, England 2 and Wales 1). Two cities have held the games on multiple occasions: Auckland (1950 and 1990), and Edinburgh (1970 and 1986).

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