Commonwealth Games Glasgow Roundup December 2011

Commonwealth Games Scotland

Sports in Scotland has never been the same again after the after the announcement of the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow. The investments of millions of pounds has changed the face of Scotland and especially of Glasgow.

Sports clubs and intense training for various sports have become a hallmark of Scotland in the new decade. A community hubs program entails the establishment of spaces for sports in all of Scotland's 32 local authority areas. Sustainability of club sports has taken a high priority to encourage sports amongst youth and bring talent to the fore. It has been felt that sports talent must be identified in schools and proper training and facilities be extended to sports persons.

A case in point is Inch Park where 3 leading sports clubs have formed a charitable organization to run vastly enhanced facilities.

In order to create enthusiasm and a spirit of participation in communities that are not directly associated with sports Scotland has put into place various measures to ignite tourism and bring in people from other fields to be a part of the games' preparations. After all the revenue that will be generated from the Games will benefit the entire population in Scotland.

There are challenges to be dealt with as well. A facility near Edinburgh which caters to dry-slope sports enthusiasts has been in deficit and was scheduled for closure last year. Social media came to the rescue and a campaign on Facebook was launched which garnered mass support from the entire country and eventually Sportsscotland decided to bear the cost of saving the facility.

The presumption is that such efforts will have a good impact on sports across the United kingdom and spread awareness and enthusiasm amongst the people of Scotland also leading to an increase the commitment by the Government to enhance funding for sports.

GLASGOW IMPRESSES AHEAD OF CWG 2014

GLASGOW IS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE FOR THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Commonwealth Games Associations appreciated the successful efforts to prepare for 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow during an inspection visit by the associations from Canada, New Zealand and England. Scotland and Wales Associations were also present during the visit. The visitors also went to take a look at the Games Village and venues in Glasgow. The three day visit was considered a crucial one as it familiarized the Associations with the men behind the great event and the state of the preparations.

Meanwhile work goes on in full swing in Glasgow for the preparations for the Commonwealth Games. The Hampden Stadium which will be used during the Games in Glasgow shall be undergoing a major renovation. The city is preparing architects by inviting submission of interest for this purpose. The renovation will include raining the existing pitch by 2 meters for building an athletics track over it and the creation of a track for warming up which will be made outside the stadium.

Sports stars have started appearing on the Commonwealth Games 2014 horizon 2 years ahead of the event to be held in 2014. Scottish champ David Jamieson said that he was eyeing the Commonwealth Games title after winning the Scottish Intermediate Championship.  The young star started his boxing career just 2 years ago but hopes to move forward in the next 2 years and win at the event during the Commonwealth Games 2014.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES NEW DELHI : OPENING CEREMONY

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

The Opening Ceremony for the 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi began with a marchpast with participants from all 71 countries showing their colorful best. The marchpast began with the first country alphabetically, Antigua and the last country to bring up end of the list of visiting countries was Zambia.The host Indian team was the last to do the marchpast. Some of the larger contingents were from countries like Canada, UK and South Africa.


The marchpast was followed by a welcome speech by Suresh Kalmadi the head of the Indian Olympic Committee. Due to the controversies that surrounded the preparations for the Games, he was booed by the audience when he began his speech but he carried on nonetheless and announced the arrival of the Commonwealth Games Baton. Mike Fennell, President of the Commonwealth Games Federation was next to give a short speech. The third speech was given by Dr Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister of India.

The Baton was brought in by the India's Gold medallist in shooting, Abhinav Bindra.Sushil Kumar, the famous Indian wrestler handed it over to His Highness Price Charles.who declared the Commonwealth Games open after reading out a brief message from the Queen of England. Pratibha Patil, the President of India gave a speech highlighting the importance of sports. At the end of the speech she exclaimed," Let the Games begin!"

The show started with the a large Bodhi Tree coming up on the center stage with hundreds of dancers streaming out into the ground including Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Manipuri, Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Odissi dancers. The dances signified each season through the year. Next was a brilliant yoga performance which showed the different asanas and the kundalini which signifies the seven chakras. The Great Indian Journey by Indian Railways showed various cultural scenes from India and a representation of the diversity from the length and breadth of the country. 'Jiyo Utho Khelo' was sung by A R Rehman who also sang Jai Ho the globally famous number from the movie Slumdog Millionaire.

The $3 billion aerostat was the centerpiece of the entire show. The aerostat comprises of the largest helium balloon in the world suspended at a height of 25 meters from the ground. The 360 degree projection surface was used to display scenes and reflections from the entertainment events taking place on the ground.

The show was a grand success and made everyone present and millions who watched it on their screens at home forget about the troubles that the Games faced during the run up to the Opening Ceremony.

COMMONWEALTH VILLAGE: DOGS AND SNAKES

SNAKES IN COMMONWEALTH GAMES VILLAGE

 The Games Village had required a lot of work since it was not found to be clean enough. There were pictures published by the media showing dirty rooms and street dogs roaming around in the complex. Hundreds of staff were put to work so that the entire Commonwealth Village could be spruced up before the athletes start arriving for the Games.

However, the preparations received a jolt again today when a snake was found in one of the apartments which was going to be occupied by the South African contingent. This was a room where an athlete was about to arrive and start staying before the Commonwealth Games begin on October 3. The South African Commissioner called it a threat to the lives of their athletes. The cause was supposed to be the filth and the water-filled basement. Thankfully, the South Africans decided not to withdraw from partcipating in the Games although the Games have now been ridden with issues.

A dipstick check revealed that only 400 apartmets have been made fully ready out of a total of 1168 apartments in the Games Village.  7000 athletes will be staying in the Village and a lot needs to be done if India is serious about making the athletes comfortable. The Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit has played down tha lack of readiness and is still sure that in 3 days everything will be ready, having wasted the last 3 years.

However, it still cannot be said as to how many athletes will participate since there have been numerous security concerns and athletes pulling out due to purported health issues.