The sporting world celebrates another multi-sport event – the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, which opened yesterday.
The spotlight is naturally on the athletes – even more so after several of them lit the tracks at the recent World Athletics Championships. They include Jamaican stars Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, and Elaine Thompson-Herah.
The Games, which end on Aug 8, also represents hope, as athletes from Sri Lanka managed to make the trip to Birmingham despite the political and economic turmoil in the island nation.
Malaysia sent a contingent of 104 athletes with the target of six gold medals – namely from badminton, rhythmic gymnastics, lawn bowls, weightlifting, powerlifting, and diving. However, there are those who believe the contingent will return with an additional gold medal or two, through the shuttlers, divers, or lawn bowlers.
Covid-19 can no longer be used as an excuse, as evident in the World Athletics Championships, where world records were broken via Sweden’s Armand Duplantis (pole vault – 6.21m), American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin (400m hurdles – 50.68s) and Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan (100m hurdles / semifinals – 12.12s).
Amusan went on to win the gold medal in the Worlds after stopping the clock at 12.06s, but the ‘record’ timing was not recognised due to a tail wind of +2.5 m/s.
The pandemic didn’t stop the athletes from rewriting history, and Amusan looks set to light up the tracks again in Birmingham.
Russian ‘threats’
While the cameras will be locked on the athletes, other elements are stealing the thunder in Birmingham. Two Russians, coaching the Malaysian gymnasts, were not granted visas to enter the UK. It remains unclear if Russian officials coaching other Commonwealth nations have also been subjected to such a ban.
The UK government, on Tuesday, sanctioned Vitaly Khotsenko and Vladislav Kuznetsov, the Russian-imposed prime minister and first deputy chairman of the ‘Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics’, for undermining Ukrainian territorial integrity. Twenty nine regional governors from across Russia were also sanctioned.
In March, Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials were not allowed to compete in the Birmingham 2022 World Games following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Over 3,000 police officers will be deployed throughout the Games, including more than 2,000 officers from other UK forces with specialist teams based at every venue. This comes amidst reports last month that Birmingham could be targeted by Russian drones.
CGF takes stance towards more inclusion, upholds LGBTQ+ rights
Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) chief executive officer Katie Sadlier was recently quoted as saying that Commonwealth nations with laws against gays “are less likely to host the Games”.
More than half of the 56 Commonwealth nations, including Malaysia, have laws against same-sex relationships. Malaysia hosted the Games once – in 1998.
All eyes will also be on British diver and Olympic champion Tom Daley’s BBC documentary, in which he visited some Commonwealth nations to expose the “dangers and discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community”. Daley was quoted as saying LGBTQ+ athletes did not feel safe and comfortable.
He added that the CGF “has been willing to talk and willing to hear what we have to say” and that it is good to see that “they’ve started taking a stance towards more inclusion”.
Pride House Birmingham has also published a media guide for reporting on LGBTQ+ athletes at the Games. The media guide is endorsed by the organising committee and CGF.
CGF has also allowed athletes to wave the rainbow, or Pride, flag.
Antonio Di Marco, a teaching professor in International and European law at the University of Strasbourg, wrote on Feb 17 that: “Today, sport’s political reach exceeds the traditional limits of the sporting arena; messages on current political issues, such as LGBTQ rights or the Catalonian independence referendum, made in mixed zones, and disseminated by social media, could transform an international sporting event into a political battlefield, rather than the peaceful meeting of the people of the world advertised by the Olympic Movement, and threaten the harmonious relations of the international sporting organisations with national authorities.”
While supporters celebrate CGF’s move, others feel such an act goes against local cultures and sensitivities, especially in Commonwealth nations in Asia.
Illustrating the schism that exists, on Monday, Sydney-based Manly Warringah Sea Eagles rugby team announced that the team would wear rainbow-coloured jerseys as a show of support for the LGBTQ community.
However, seven of its players cited cultural and religious grounds for their decision not to wear the jerseys and to boycott a game held yesterday.
Sea Eagles Coach Des Hasler later apologised to the LGBTQ community and the players, saying: “We accept your cultural beliefs and hope you can accept our apology.”
Bringing nations together, colourful celebration of humanity
The Games was once called the British Empire Games. The inaugural edition was held in Canada in 1930.
It saw 400 athletes from 11 nations competing in 59 events.
A team of four weightlifters from Malaya participated for the first time in the Games under the Union Jack in the 1950 edition, in Auckland, New Zealand.
According to the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s records, Tho Fook Hung won a gold medal in the bantamweight category, with a total lift of 655 pounds, while Koh Eng Tong won another gold medal in the featherweight category with a total lift of 685 pounds.
Thong Saw Pak won a silver medal in the lightweight category, while Tan Kim Bee won the bronze medal in the light heavyweight category.
A team from the Federation of Malaya competed in the 1958 and 1962 editions, and upon the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the nation sent a contingent to every edition since the 1966 Games. Malaysia, however, boycotted the 13th Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh in 1986 in support of African countries due to the failure of then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to impose economic sanctions on apartheid South Africa.
Malaysia’s best medal haul was in Delhi 2010, where the contingent won 12 gold medals and brought home 36 medals (including 10 silver, 14 bronze).
Underpinned by the core values of humanity, equality and destiny, the Games aims to unite the Commonwealth family through a glorious festival of sport.
Often referred to as the ‘Friendly Games’, the event inspires athletes to compete in the spirit of friendship and fair play.
It is hoped that the Games bring out the best in humanity.
