Commonwealth Games 2022

Published on: August 15, 2022

Commonwealth Games 2022

The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games (CWG) or Birmingham 2022 was held at Birmingham, England (United Kingdom) from July 28 to August 8, 2022.
It was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Games were declared open by Charles, Prince of Wales.
It was the first major international multi-sports event that was integrated, meaning para and non-para games were held at the same time.
Also, it was the first games to host more women’s gold medals than men’s.
The previous CWG 2018 was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia between April 4-15, 2018.

Organizers:

It was organized by the Birmingham Organizing Committee for the 2022 Commonwealth Games (BOCCG). It was jointly established by the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Birmingham City Council and the Commonwealth Games England and was structured as a private company limited by guarantee.
It is headquartered at One Brindleyplace, Birmingham.

First carbon neutral CWG:

Birmingham 2022 CWG was the first carbon neutral CWG. The event was premised upon the following four steps that were taken to manage and measure its carbon footprint:

Understand: Assessing the likelihood of carbon impact from the games.
Reduction: Prioritizing and focusing on significant areas in which carbon reductions can be made.
Measure Final footprint: Completing a final assessment of the carbon footprint of the games.
Offset: Making sure emissions are offset where possible and highlighting other ways to reduce emissions.

The organizers also partnered with water company Severn Trent that was responsible for delivering a series of initiatives that helped offset the carbon generated by the Commonwealth Games.
The company will be creating 2,022 acres of forest as well as 72 tennis-court-sized mini forests in urban areas across the West Midlands.

Motto:

The official motto of Birmingham 2022 was ‘Games for Everyone’ which seeks to bring people together, connecting athletes from countries far and wide, or communities from across the city and region.

Emblem:

It was a blue and yellow ‘B’ which is meant to link the venues of the sporting events to be held as part of the games. The color palette represents Birmingham as the youngest city in Europe.

Mascot:

The mascot for the 2022 Birmingham CWG was ‘Perry’, a multi-coloured jazzy bull with an athletic build. It is named after Perry Barr, the area of Birmingham where the transformed Alexander Stadium hosted the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies and athletics events.
The bull is an animal synonymous with Birmingham’s market area which is commonly referred to as the Bull Ring since the 16th century. It has an iconic bull structure in bronze.
It also features a gold medal, a reference to Birmingham’s famous Jewellery Quarter, where 40% of the country’s jewellery is made.

Participants:

72 nations, more than 5,000 athletes competed across 280 events in 20 different sports.
India was represented by a 215-member contingent. The athletes competed in events across 16 sports.
The total strength of the Indian contingent was however to be 322, including 72 team officials, 26 extra officials, and nine contingent staff, including three general managers.

Opening and Closing Ceremony:

The opening ceremonies of the 2022 Commonwealth Games were held at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on July 28, 2022.
The Closing ceremony took place on August 8, 2022 at Alexander Stadium, which saw the formal handover to Victoria, Australia, to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Winner:

Australia finished atop the final Commonwealth Games 2022 medal tally with a total of 178 medals consisting 67 gold, 57 silver and 54 Bronze medals.

India’s best CWG campaigns:

2010, New Delhi: 101 medals
2002, Manchester: 69 medals
2018, Gold Coast: 66 medals
2014, Glasgow: 64 medals
2022, Birmingham: 61 medals

India in Commonwealth Games 2022:

In CWG 2022, India stood at 4th position with a total medal tally of 61, consisting of 22 Gold, 16 Silver, and 23 Bronze medals. It was India’s 18th appearance at the event.
The Indian contingent was led by flag bearers Pusarla Venkata (PV) Sindhu, two-time Olympic medallist, and men’s hockey captain Manpreet Singh in the opening ceremony of CWG 2022.
India’s flagbearers Achanta Sharath Kamal and Nikhat Zareen lead the contingent during the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
India Completed 200 CWG Gold Medals; 4th Nation to Achieve This Milestone
PV Sindhu’s women’s singles badminton gold medal marked India’s 200th gold medal in Commonwealth Games history in Birmingham, by defeating Mitchell Li(Canada).

Highlights:

Shooting, which garnered 16 of the 66 medals at Gold Coast CWG 2018, was dropped from the Commonwealth Games programme for Birmingham 2022.
Sanket Sargar became the first Indian to win a medal in Birmingham after he won silver in the men’s 55kg weightlifting event.
Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian to win a Gold medal at CWG 2022, while Jeremy Lalrinnunga became the first Indian man to win a Gold medal and place on the podium in Birmingham.
At the CWG 2022, Sudhir won the first medal for India-a gold-in the para sports. He won the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting championship.
Paddler Sharath Kamal earned India’s final gold medal at CWG 2022 in the men’s singles table tennis category.
In the men’s singles bronze medal match at the CWG 2022, squash player Saurav Ghosal defeated England’s James Willstrop to become the first Indian athlete to earn an individual medal in the sport of squash.

Medalists