Commonwealth Games 2022 UPSC: Essay, Current Affairs, Medal Tally

Commonwealth Games 2022

The Commonwealth Games 2022, also known as the XXII Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, was an international multi-sport competition for participants from the Commonwealth of Nations held in Birmingham, England, from July 28 to August 8, 2022.

Essay on Commonwealth Games 2022

The Commonwealth Games 2022 was the biggest ever hosted, with 72 participating nations and over 1.3 million ticket purchases. The para competition was also conducted simultaneously, making it the first tournament with more female-focused events than male-focused ones. A cultural festival and other trade activities were organized throughout the West Midlands in conjunction with the Games.

History of Commonwealth Games

Astley Cooper pioneered holding many games at a single sporting event in 1881. The Friendly Games are another name for the Commonwealth Games. From 1930 to 1950, the events were known as the British Empire Games, from 1954 to 1966 as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, and from 1970 to 1974 as the British Commonwealth Games.

After being inspired by the Inter-Empire Championships, a feature of the 1911 Festival of Empire, Melville Marks Robinson founded the British Empire Games, which were first held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930.

The Paraplegic Games for athletes with disabilities (who were prohibited from competing from 1974 until integrated entirely by 1990) and the Commonwealth Youth Games for participants between the ages of 14 and 18 were added as the Games developed over time. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) oversees the Games, chooses the host cities, and manages the sporting program.

Only six countries, i.e., Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales, have competed in the Commonwealth Games. Of these six games, Australia, England, Canada, and New Zealand brought home at least one gold medal each.

Commonwealth Games 2022 Current Affairs

Everyone preparing for the current affairs section is urged to be familiar with the most recent Commonwealth Games events. The most current Commonwealth Games updates are as follows:

• On July 28, 2022, the Commonwealth Games got underway in Birmingham. This year, Neeraj Chopra served as the team’s leader.
• 322 people make up the Indian squad at the event, including three general managers, nine contingent employees, and 72 team officials.
• The inclusion of women’s cricket in the Commonwealth Games this year is one of the most recognizable features of the event.
• Manpreet Singh served as the team’s captain of the hockey team.
• In an email to a UK MP, India’s sports minister Kiren Rijiju requests that shooting be included in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
• For India, Mirabai Chanu won the 49 kg women’s weightlifting gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022.
• The opening day of the Games saw no medals for India.
• India won their first medal on day two of the event. Silver was won by Sanket Sargar in the men’s 55-Kg weightlifting event, giving India its first medal.
• In the 61 kg men’s weightlifting event, Gururaja Poojary took the bronze medal, while Bindyarani Devi took the silver in the 55 kg women’s weightlifting event.
• India is currently ranked sixth in the Commonwealth Games medal count for 2022. Australia continues to hold the top spot with 52 medals.
• In the 67 kg, men’s weightlifting event won by Jeremy Lalrinnunga and the 73 kg weightlifting event won by Achinta Sheuli, India won two gold medals.
• In Birmingham, a 215-person Indian team: 111 male and 104 female athletes, competed in 15 different sports.

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India’s Participation in Commonwealth Games

The 37-member Indian athlete teams, led by Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, were confirmed by the Athlete Federation of India for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Out of the 37 athletes on the Indian team, 18 are female. This also applies to the choice of female competitors for the 4400 m women’s relay team, such as Hima Das and Dutee Chand.

Avinash Sable was a part of the team that set a new record in the 3000m steeplechase for the eighth time. It is also anticipated that Jyoti Yarraji, who twice broke the 100-meter hurdles record, will join the team. At the National Interstate Championship in Chennai, athletes other than Aishwarya Babu broke the triple jump record.

Tejaswin Shankar, who won the high jump national championship in 2022 with a best leap of 2.27 meters at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in the US, was not selected for the Commonwealth Games because he did not participate in the national inter-state competition and did not ask the AFI for an exemption.

• In which year did the Indian Men’s Hockey team win its first Olympic gold medal?
• How many times has India hosted Asian Games?

Commonwealth Games Countries

The countries where the Commonwealth Games were held are listed below:

Year	City	Country
1930	Hamilton	Canada
1934	London	England
1938	Sydney	Australia
1950	Auckland	New Zealand
1954	Vancouver	Canada
1558	Cardiff	Wales
1962	Perth	Australia
1966	Kingston	Jamaica
1970	Edinburgh	Scotland
1974	Christchurch	New Zealand
1978	Edmonton	Canada
1982	Brisbane	Australia
1986	Edinburgh	Scotland
1990	Auckland	New Zealand
1994	Victoria	Canada
1998	Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia
2002	Manchester	England
2006	Melbourne	Australia
2010	Delhi	India
2014	Glasgow	Scotland
2018	Gold Coast	Australia
2022	Birmingham	England

About Commonwealth Games Federation

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), a global organization, is in charge of organizing the Commonwealth Games and is the final arbiter of all questions relating to the competitions. In London, England’s Commonwealth House serves as the home of CGF. The Royal Commonwealth Society and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum have offices at the Commonwealth House.

The International Olympic Committee says there are three main parts to the Commonwealth Games Movement:

1. A sport’s international governing body is called the International Federation (IFs). For instance, the sport’s worldwide regulating body is the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
2. Similar to National Olympic Committees, Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) manage and oversee the Games Movement inside their various nations. For instance, England’s CGA is the Commonwealth Games England (CGE). 72 CGAs are now recognized by the CGF.
3. The temporary groups in charge of organizing each Commonwealth Games are known as the Commonwealth Games Organising Groups (OCCWGs). OCCWGs are dissolved following each game once the CGF has received the final report.

Medals won by India in Commonwealth Games 2022

India has won a gold medal to start the closing day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Men’s singles table tennis saw Achanta Sharat Kamal win the gold medal while Sathiyan took the bronze. Chirag Shetty and Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy won the gold medal in men’s doubles badminton.

PV Sindhu of India won the gold medal in the women’s singles badminton tournament. Lakshya Sen also captured the gold medal by outlasting Malaysian Ng Tze Yong. Let’s take a look at how many medals India won at the 2022 Commonwealth Games:

Medal	Number of Medals
Gold Medal	22
Silver Medal	16
Bronze Medal	23
Total	61

Sports Wise Commonwealth Games Medal Tally 2022

The Commonwealth Games Medal Tally of CWG 2022 is discussed here. Wrestling, cricket, boxing, hockey, squash, judo, javelin throw, weightlifting, athletics, badminton, table tennis, long jump, high jump, and lawn bowls are among the sports in which India has won 61 medals. Let’s look at India’s medal tally for the Commonwealth Games 2022.

Commonwealth Games 2022 Medal Tally
Sports	Athlete/Team	Events	Medal
Table Tennis	Sharath Kamal	Men’s Single	Gold
Table Tennis	Sathiyan Gnanasekaran	Men’s Single	Bronze
Table Tennis	Achanta & Sreeja Akula	Mixed Doubles	Gold
Table Tennis	Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran	Men’s Doubles	Silver
Badminton	Lakshya Sen	Men Single	Gold
Badminton	PV Sindhu	Women Single	Gold
Badminton	Kidambi Srikanth	Men Single	Bronze
Cricket	Indian Women Cricket Team	Women	Silver
Squash	Dipika Pallikal & Saurav Ghosal	Mixed Doubles	Silver
Boxing	Sagar Ahlawat	Men’s 92 KG	Silver
Boxing	Amit Panghal	Men’s 48kg – 51kg (Flyweight)	Gold
Boxing	Nitu Ghanghas	Women’s 48kg	Gold
Boxing	Mohammed Hussamuddin	Men’s 57kg	Bronze
Boxing	Nikhat Zareen	Women’s 50kg	Gold
Athletics	Eldhose Paul	Men’s triple jump	Gold
Athletics	Abdulla Aboobacker	Men’s triple jump	Silver
Athletics	Sandeep Kumar	Men’s 10 Race Walk	Bronze
Athletics	Annu Rani	Javelin Throw	Bronze
Hockey	Indian Hockey Team	Women’s Hockey	Bronze
Wrestling	Deepak Nehra	Women’s 97kg	Bronze
Wrestling	Pooja Sihag	Women’s 74kg	Bronze
Para Table Tennis	Bhavina Patel	Women’s Table Tennis	Gold
Para Table Tennis	Sonalben Manubhai Patel	Women’s Table Tennis	Bronze
Wrestling	Naveen Malik	Men’s 74kg	Gold
Wrestling	Vinesh Phogat	Women’s 53kg	Gold
Wrestling	Ravi Dahiya	Men’s 57kg	Gold
Wrestling	Pooja Gahlot	Women’s 50kg	Bronze
Boxing	Jasmine Lamboria	Women’s 60kg	Bronze
Lawn Bowls	Sunil Bahadur, Navneet Singh, Chandan Kumar Singh, Dinesh Kumar	Men’s Four	Silver
Athletics	Avinash Mukund Sable	Men’s 3000m steeplechase	Silver
Athletics	Murali Sreeshankar	Men’s long jump	Silver
Athletics	Priyanka Goswami	Women’s 10,000m race walk	Silver
Squash	Saurav Ghosal	Men’s singles	Bronze
Wrestling	Mohit Grewal	Men’s 125kg freestyle	Bronze
Wrestling	Divya Kakran	Women’s 68kg freestyle	Bronze
Wrestling	Sakshi Malik	Women’s 62kg	Gold
Wrestling	Deepak Punia	Men’s 86kg	Gold
Wrestling	Bajrang Punia	Men’s 65kg	Gold
Wrestling	Anshu Malik	Women’s 57kg	Silver
Para Powerlifting	Sudhir	–	Gold
Weightlifting	Gurdeep Singh	Men’s +109kg	Bronze
Athletics	Tejaswin Shankar	Men’s high jump	Bronze
Weightlifting	Jeremy Lalrinnunga	Men’s 67kg	Gold
Weightlifting	Achinta Sheuli	Men’s 73kg	Gold
Weightlifting	Lovepreet Singh	Men’s 109kg	Bronze
Weightlifting	Vikas Thakur	Men’s 96 kg	Silver
Weightlifting	Gururaja Poojary	Men’s 61kg	Bronze
Weightlifting	Mirabai Chanbu	Women’s 49kg	Gold
Weightlifting	Harjinder Kaur	Women’s 71kg	Bronze
Weightlifting	Bindyarani Devi	Women’s 55kg	Silver
Weightlifting	Sanket Sargar	Men’s 55kg	Silver
Badminton	Mixed Badminton Team	Mixed Badminton	Silver
Table Tennis	Indian Table Tennis Team	Men’s table tennis	Gold
Lawn Bowls	Fours team: Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Natanmoni Saikia, Rupa Rani Tirkey	Women’s Fours	Gold
Judo	Sushila Devi Likmabam	Women’s 48kg	Silver
Judo	Tulika Maan	Women’s +78kg	Silver
Judo	Vijay Kumar Yadav	Men’s 60kg	Bronze

Country Wise Commonwealth Games 2022 Medal Tally

England hosted the Commonwealth Games for the third time with Birmingham as the host. The country-wise medal tally for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games is as follows:

Rank	Country	Bronze	Silver	Gold	Total
1	Australia	54	57	67	178
2	England	53	66	57	176
3	Canada	34	32	26	92
4	India	23	16	22	61
5	New Zealand	17	12	20	49
6	Scotland	27	11	13	51
7	Nigeria	14	9	12	35
8	Wales	14	6	8	28
9	South Africa	11	9	7	27
10	Malaysia	8	8	7	23
11 to 43	Others	60	56	41	157
Total		315	282	280	877

Commonwealth Games: Queen’s Baton Relay

Before the Commonwealth Games begin, a global relay known as the Queen’s Baton Relay is held. London’s Buckingham Palace hosts the Relay’s start as part of the festivities. The Queen gives the lead relay runner the baton.

• At the Games’ Opening Ceremony, the Queen or her representative receives the baton from the final relay runner and reads the letter aloud to signal the start of the competition. The Queen’s Baton Relay is comparable to the Olympic Torch Relay.
• At the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales, the Relay was first performed. The Relay only traveled around England and the host nation before and during the 1994 Games.
• The Commonwealth Games Relay in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998 was the first to visit other Commonwealth nations.
• Coastal Sunshine The 2018 Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay was the longest in the competition’s history. The Baton covered 230,000 kilometers (150,000 miles) in 388 days as it crossed the six Commonwealth continents of Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.
• In 2017, at the sixth instalment of the Commonwealth Youth Games in Nassau, Bahamas, the Queen’s Baton was given out for the first time.

Commonwealth Games Ceremonies

The ceremonies in the Commonwealth Games are as follows:

• Opening Ceremony: Several elements surround the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, which is performed before the activities. The national anthem of the host nation is frequently sung before raising the flag for the occasion. The flags of the current hosting country, the following hosting country, and the Commonwealth Games Federation banner are all flown during the opening ceremony.

The host nation then performs a musical, singing, dancing, and dramatic acts pertinent to its culture. The creative performances have increased in size and sophistication as each host tries to deliver a more memorable ceremony than its predecessor. The Delhi Games’ opening ceremony reportedly cost $70 million, with a large portion going on artistic components.

• Closing Ceremony: The Commonwealth Games closing ceremony follows the conclusion of all sporting competitions. Athletes enter the stadium without regard to nationality after flag bearers from each participating country. Following the closing comments by the CGF and organizing committee presidents, the Games are officially adjourned.

The CGF President also covers the game’s administration. The Commonwealth Games flag is given by the mayor of the city that held the Games to the CGF president, who then passes it on to the mayor of the town that will host the following Commonwealth Games. The next host nation then briefly introduces itself through artistic performances of its theatre and dance.

• Medal Presentation:A medal ceremony is conducted once each event has finished. A three-tiered podium presents medals to the top-finishing individuals or teams. The national flags of the three medalists are raised as the national song of the nation with the gold medal plays after a CGF member presents the medals.

During the award ceremonies, volunteers from the host nation act as hosts by supporting the presenters of the medals and carrying the flag.

Commonwealth Games 2022 UPSC

Given that it has recently been in the headlines, there is a high probability that a UPSC current affairs question will be about the “Commonwealth Games 2022.” To make preparing for the exam easier, our subject matter expert has compiled the most useful notes on this topic. Candidates are encouraged to read the entire post and download the Commonwealth Games UPSC notes PDF for their quick revision as the UPSC exam approaches nearer.

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