2018 Commonwealth Games

The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was the fifth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games and the first time a major multi-sport had an equal number of events for male and female athletes.

4,426 athletes including 300 para-athletes from 71 Commonwealth Games Associations took part in the event. The Gambia, which withdrew its membership from the Commonwealth of Nations and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in 2013, was readmitted on 31 March 2018 and participated in the event. With 275 sets of medals, the games featured 18 Commonwealth sports, including beach volleyball, para triathlon and women's rugby sevens. These sporting events took place at 14 venues in the host city, two venues in Brisbane and one venue each in Cairns and Townsville.

This was the first Commonwealth Games to take place under the CGF presidency of Dame Louise Martin. The host city Gold Coast was announced at the CGF General Assembly in Basseterre, Saint Kitts, on 11 November 2011. Gold Coast became the seventh Oceanian city and the first regional city to host the Commonwealth Games. These were the eighth games to be held in Oceania and the Southern Hemisphere.

The host nation Australia topped the medal table for the fourth time in the past five Commonwealth Games, winning the most golds (80) and most medals overall (198). England and India finished second and third respectively. Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, British Virgin Islands and Dominica each won their first Commonwealth Games medals.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games boosted the Queensland economy by more than A$2.4 billion between 2013 and 2022.

Host selection
On 22 August 2008, the Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, officially launched Gold Coast City's bid to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018. On 7 April 2009, the ABC reported a land exchange deal between Gold Coast City and State of Queensland for Carrara Stadium. According to Mayor Ron Clarke, the land would aid a potential bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The land exchanged would be used as the site of an aquatics centre. In the same article, Mayor Clarke raised the question of the Australian Federal Government's commitment to a 2018 Commonwealth Games bid in light of the Government's support for Australia's 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals bid. On 16 April 2009, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told reporters that a successful Commonwealth Games bid by Gold Coast City could help the tourist strip win a role in hosting the World Cup.

"Some of the infrastructure that would be built for the Commonwealth Games will be useful for Gold Coast City to get a World Cup game out of the soccer World Cup if we're successful as a nation," she said. However, the decision on the venues for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were made eleven months prior to the bid decision for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, so the potential World Cup venues had already been chosen. On 3 June 2009, Gold Coast City was confirmed as Australia's exclusive bidder vying for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. "Should a bid proceed, Gold Coast City will have the exclusive Australian rights to bid as host city for 2018," Bligh stated.

"Recently I met with the president and CEO of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association and we agreed to commission a full and comprehensive feasibility study into the potential for the 2018 Commonwealth Games," she said. "Under the stewardship of Queensland Events new chair, Geoff Dixon, that study is now well advanced." On 15 March 2010, it was announced that the Queensland Government will provide initial funding of A$11 million for the 2018 Commonwealth Games bid.

The Premier of Queensland has indicated the Government's support for the bid to the Australian Commonwealth Games Association. On 31 March 2010, the Australian Commonwealth Games Association officially launched the bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In October 2011, Gold Coast City Mayor Ron Clarke stated that the games would provide a strong legacy for the city after the games have ended.

On 31 March 2010, a surprise bid was made for the 2018 Commonwealth Games by the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota. Hambantota was devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, and is undergoing a major face lift. The first phase of the Port of Hambantota is nearing completion and it is funded by the government of China. The Mattala International Airport, which is the second international Airport of Sri Lanka is built close to Hambantota. A new Hambantota International Cricket Stadium had also been built, which had hosted matches in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

On 10 November 2011, the Hambantota bidders claimed they had already secured enough votes to win the hosting rights. However, on 11 November it was officially announced Gold Coast City had won the rights to host the games.

Development and preparation
The event was overseen by the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC). The GOLDOC was formed in 2012 by the Government of Queensland. Its headquarters were located in Ashmore, a suburban region of Gold Coast. In February 2012, Mark Peters was appointed chief executive officer of the GOLDOC. The Queensland Government Minister Kate Jones was tasked with overseeing the Games. Peter Beattie AC served as the Chairman of GOLDOC who was appointed on 17 May 2016 to replace Nigel Chamier OAM.

Venues
The Gold Coast 2018 was hosted across 18 venues located on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns. Sporting venues were well ahead available of Gold Coast 2018 ensuring that they were used and tested before the Games. The Australian and Queensland Governments and the City of Gold Coast invested A$320 million to deliver new and upgraded venues. Lendlease was the overlay delivery partner and official supporter property and infrastructure of the Games.

Venues on the Gold Coast
Carrara Stadium, located in the suburb of Carrara, was the main venue for Athletics, the Opening ceremony and the Closing ceremony. The seating capacity of the stadium was temporarily increased to 40,000 for the games by the installation of a large temporary North Stand. The new Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre hosted the Badminton, Para Powerlifting, Weightlifting and Wrestling events. The Carrara Indoor Sports Stadium hosted the back-of-house event operations.

The Gold Coast City Convention and Exhibition Centre, located in the suburb of Broadbeach, hosted Basketball and Netball (preliminaries) and also served as the Main Media Centre and International Broadcast centre hosting over 3000 members of the worlds press. The Broadbeach Bowls Club hosted the Bowls competition.

The Nerang Mountain Bike Trails was the location for the Mountain Bike competition. A new course was constructed to meet international competition requirements and temporary spectator seating for 2,000 spectators.

The newly built Coomera Indoor Sports Centre hosted Gymnastics and Netball (finals). The Oxenford Studios hosted the sports of Boxing, Table Tennis and Squash. During Games mode the venue was enhanced to provide for the International Sporting Federation technical venue requirements and provide spectator seating of 3,000 (boxing) and 3,200 (table tennis). The Gold Coast Hockey Centre hosted the men's and women's hockey events during the games. The Southport Broadwater Parklands hosted Triathlon, Marathon and Racewalking events. The Optus aquatic centre hosted the Swimming and Diving events.

Robina Stadium hosted the Rugby 7s competition and upgraded to meet World Rugby standards. The Currumbin Beachfront hosted the road racing elements of the cycling programme. Coolangatta Beachfront hosted the Beach volleyball event.

Venues outside Gold Coast
Brisbane, along with the Gold Coast, forms part of the South East Queensland conurbation. Track Cycling was held at the Sleeman Sports Complex in the suburb of Chandler, where a new indoor cycling velodrome (Anna Meares Velodrome) was built. The Velodrome's seat capacity was 4,000 during the games mode.

The Shooting disciplines were held at the Belmont Shooting Centre. In Tropical North Queensland, the Cairns Convention Centre and Townsville Entertainment Centre hosted the preliminary rounds of both the men's and women's basketball competitions.

Athletes village
The Athletes Village was officially opened from 25 March 2018 and provided accommodation and services to 6,600 athletes and officials in 1252 permanent dwellings. It was located in Southport, Gold Coast. There were 1170 one and two-bedroom apartments and 82 three-bedroom townhouses. The village had three zones - International, Residential and Operational.

The residential zone accommodated athletes and officials and also offered recreation, gym and medical facilities. The equipment in the gym was sponsored by Technogym. Adjoining the gym was the Athlete Recovery Area. The International Zone consisted of retail services, shops and the main dining hall. The Festival 2018 events were also held in the International Zone. The Dining hall served over 18,000 meals per day to the athletes during the Games. Australian telecommunications company Optus opened a store in the International zone named "Yes Optus Store" which provided free calling services to the athletes and officials and other services such as phone charging and watching events of the Games in televisions. Optus also provided free Wi-Fi services in the village.

Financing
The sports-related costs of Gold Coast 2018 was A$1.5 billion (US$1.2 billion).

Countdown
The countdown clocks were unveiled on 4 April 2013, exactly five years from the opening ceremony of the games. The clocks were shaped as a surfboard and were located at the beach end of Cavill Avenue in Surfers Paradise and in South Bank Parklands in Brisbane. The Countdown Clock was the first fixed element of the Commonwealth Games visual identity program.

Ticketing
The ticket requests began on 24 April 2017 and ended on 22 May 2017. The first round of tickets were allocated on 22 June 2017 via a computer-generated ballot system. About 70% of the people who applied for the tickets had received some or all of the tickets requested in the first phase. In Australia, ticket prices ranged from A$10 for many events to A$495 for the most expensive seats at the opening ceremony. The games expected to have 1.2 million tickets for sale. Around 1.06 million tickets were sold by 3 April 2018. Ticketek was the provider of ticketing services for the Games.

Queen's baton relay
The Queen's baton of the 2018 Commonwealth Games had a distinctive loop design and was made of macadamia wood and recycled plastic sourced from Gold Coast waterways. Its design was inspired by the Queensland's "vibrant spirit and indigenous heritage" and with sustainability.

The design of the baton was unveiled on 20 November 2016 at a special ceremony in the Jupiter Gold Coast hotel. The baton was designed by the Brisbane-based firm Designworks. At the 2018 Good Design Awards conducted by the Good Design Australia, the baton won the Best Product Sport and Lifestyle award.

The Queen's baton relay was launched on Commonwealth Day, 13 March 2017, on the historic forecourt at Buckingham Palace in London, signalling the official countdown to the start of the Games. Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Edward, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II heralded the start of the relay by placing her 'message to the Commonwealth and its athletes' into the distinctive loop-design Queen's Baton which then set off on its journey around the globe.

The baton traveled for 388 days, spending time in every nation and territory of the Commonwealth. The Gold Coast 2018 Queen's Baton Relay was the longest in Commonwealth Games history. Covering 230,000 km over 388 days, the baton made its way through the six Commonwealth regions of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The baton landed on Australian soil in December 2017 and then spent 100 days travelling through Australia, finishing its journey at the opening ceremony on 4 April 2018, where the message was removed from the Baton and read aloud by Charles, Prince of Wales.

Tourism Australia and QSuper sponsored the international and Australian segment of Queen's Baton Relay respectively, while Longines sponsored both the segments.

Medals
The medals for the Games were officially unveiled at a charity gala held on 4 November 2017. Australian Indigenous artist Delvene Cockatoo-Collins designed the medals, while they were produced by the Royal Australian Mint. The design of the medals was inspired by the coastline of Gold Coast along with Indigenous culture.

Furthermore, Cockatoo-Collins mentioned, "the medal design represents soft sand lines which shift with every tide and wave, also symbolic of athletic achievement, The continual change of tide represents the evolution in athletes who are making their mark, Records are made and special moments of elation are celebrated". Approximately 1,500 medals were created to be distributed to the medalists and each measures approximately 63 millimetres in diameter. The medals weigh between 138 and 163 grams.

Volunteering
Over 15,000 volunteers were hired for the Games. Over 45,000 applicants applied to become a volunteer. The uniforms for the volunteers were revealed on 11 November 2017 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. Former Gold Coast Titans player Mat Rogers who was present at the uniform showcase ceremony, said that the uniforms were "very Gold Coast" and it was like an "active wear". Hard Yakka was the official supplier of the uniforms for the volunteers.

Transport
During the Games period, free public transportation within Queensland region was provided to ticket and accreditation holders. The free transportation services were available on local buses, train and Gold Coast light rail (G:link) services on the Gold Coast and on TransLink and Qconnect bus services in Cairns and Townsville.

The Gold Coast light rail system, connected a number of the key games venues including the Optus Aquatic Centre, Broadwater Parklands and the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre with the major accommodation centres of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach and the Athletes Village at Parklands. An extension to the system was announced in October 2015, connecting the then current terminus at Gold Coast University Hospital to the railway line to Brisbane at Helensvale. The extension opened in December 2017, in time for the games.

Four temporary Games lanes were introduced along the M1 and activated at different times to decrease traffic disruptions for road users. These were used by police and emergency vehicles, spectator shuttle buses and accredited Games family and athletes. The Gold Coast Airport served as the official airport for the Games.

Security
A total of 3,500 police officers from Queensland and 4,000 security personnel from the Australian security companies MSS Security, Wilson Security, SecureCorp and SNP were present at the Games. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) assisted Gold Coast authorities in ensuring the security of the Games and deployed over 1,000 personnel to help with the effort.

Furthermore, Operation ATLAS was the codename for the ADF contribution to the security of the Games. The Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force assisted the Queensland Police Service (QPS) who were the lead agency of the Games' security. American cyber security software company Symantec provided IT and cyber security services for the Games.

Anti-doping
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority conducted an anti-doping drive in the months prior to the Games, covering around 2500 tests of Australian athletes, as well as 500 tests against international athletes. Three Australians failed drug tests in this process, along with around 20 international athletes, subject to appeal. The Commonwealth Games Federation conducted in-competition testing and, matching protocol at the Olympic Games, launched a sample storage initiative to allow for future testing of samples up to ten years later, should detection technology improve.

Festival 2018
The Festival 2018 was a 12-day multi-arts program for the 2018 Commonwealth Games which included free musical performances, activities, public art and other family-friendly events. The program took place at Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach on the Gold Coast, Cultural Forecourt, South Bank in Brisbane, Lagoon Precinct in Cairns and Jezzine Barracks, Strand Park and Queens Gardens in Townsville.

Sustainability
The GOLDOC delivered the event with a focus on sustainability under the guidance of the ISO 20121 event sustainability management system and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework Sustainability Reporting Standards. The GOLDOC received the Sustainability Award in the Australian Business Awards 2016 for focusing on sustainable practices and planning in the preparation of the games. The GOLDOC headquarters received the 4 Star Green Star – Interiors PILOT rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. The new Anna Meares Velodrome, built specifically for the games, is the first velodrome in the world to have full LED broadcast-quality lighting that cuts energy consumption by up to 60% and reduces running costs and carbon emissions.

Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony was held at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast, between 20:00 and 22:40 AEST, on 4 April 2018. The Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II, was represented by her son, Charles, Prince of Wales. David Zolkwer was its artistic director, with music direction by Katie Noonan. Live musical performers included Christine Anu, Delta Goodrem, Katie Noonan, Ricki-Lee Coulter and Ruel who performed "Golden Years" as the closing act. The ceremony transmitted live on Channel 7 attracted a peak viewing audience of over 2 million in Australia.

Closing ceremony
The closing ceremony was held at Carrara Stadium on Sunday 15 April 2018 and was produced by Jack Morton Worldwide at a cost of A$30 million. Australian pop stars Guy Sebastian, Samantha Jade, Dami Im, Ricki Lee and The Veronicas were among the performers. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, declared the Games closed and passed the Commonwealth Games flag to Birmingham, England which will host the 2022 Games.

Participating Commonwealth Games Associations
There were 71 Commonwealth Games Associations competing at 2018 Commonwealth Games. Maldives were scheduled to participate, but in October 2016 they withdrew from the Commonwealth. The Gambia returned to the Commonwealth Games after being readmitted as a Commonwealth Games Federation member on 31 March 2018.

It marked the last time that Swaziland participated in the games before being renamed as Eswatini.





Sports
The 2018 Commonwealth Games featured 18 different sports encompassing 23 disciplines and 275 events. In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.

The approved sports included the 10 core sports: athletics, badminton, boxing, hockey, lawn bowls, netball (for women), rugby sevens, squash, swimming and weightlifting. Integrated disabled competitions were also scheduled for the Games in six sports: swimming, athletics, cycling, table tennis, powerlifting and lawn bowls. Along with these events for the first time EAD events in triathlon were held, with the medals added to the final tally for each nation. A record 38 para events were contested at these games. On 8 March 2016, beach volleyball was announced as the 18th sport.

The program was broadly similar to that of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, with the major changes being the dropping of judo, the reintroduction of basketball, the debut of women's rugby sevens and beach volleyball.

On 7 October 2016, it was announced seven new events for women were added to the sport program, meaning there are an equal number of events for men and women. This marks the first time in history that a major multi-sport event has equality in terms of events. In total 275 events in 18 sports are being contested.

Medal table
Only the top ten most successful nations are displayed here.

Broadcasting
NEP Australia was the host broadcaster of the event. It produced high definition coverage of the event and delivered to the rights-holding broadcasters of other nations. In Australia, the games were broadcast live on three Seven Network channels - 7HD, 7TWO and 7Mate. In the United Kingdom, BBC provided Commonwealth Games coverage of more than 200 hours across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website, BBC iPlayer and BBC radio. ESPN provided the games coverage for viewers in the USA. Sony Pictures Networks India broadcast the games for the viewers in India on three channels - Sony Six, Sony Ten 2 in English and Sony Ten 3 in Hindi.

Flow Sports provided games coverage in the Caribbean countries and territories such as Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago along Turks and Caicos. Flow Sports provided coverage of the event on Flow Sports 1, Flow Sports 2 and up to three additional "Flow Sports Extra" channels.

The New Zealand government funded Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL) broadcast the event on Pasifika TV in the Oceanian countries such as Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Motto
The official motto for the 2018 Commonwealth Games was "Share the Dream". It was chosen to highlight the dreams and experience at the games that were shared by participants of the games, ranging from athletes to volunteers and the host country Australia to the world including the Commonwealth nations.

Emblem
The emblem was launched on 4 April 2013, which marked exactly five years until its opening ceremony. It was unveiled at the Southport Broadwater Parklands. It was designed by the New South Wales based brand consultancy WiteKite. The emblem of the 2018 Commonwealth Games was a silhouette of the skyline and landscape of Gold Coast, the host city of the games. Nigel Chamier OAM, former Chairman of the GOLDOC, said that it was the result of months of market research.

Mascot
Borobi was named as the mascot of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in 2016. Borobi is a blue koala, with indigenous markings on its body. The term "borobi" means koala in the Yugambeh language, spoken by the indigenous Yugambeh people of the Gold Coast and surrounding areas. The song Days of Gold composed by the Australian Duo band Busby Marou, which was released on 17 October 2014, was considered as the official song of the Mascot Borobi.

Sponsors
The official partners of the games were The Star Gold Coast, Griffith University, TAFE Queensland, Longines, Optus, Atos and Woolworths Supermarkets. Griffith University was also the Creative Arts partner of the games and Presenting partner of the Gold Coast Marathon. TAFE Queensland was responsible for providing vocational education and training program for the volunteers of the games. Longines served as the official timekeeper of the games.

Music
Australian singer Delta Goodrem wrote the song "Welcome to Earth", which is about the planet Earth and the theme of the opening ceremony. She performed the song live during the ceremony and was worldwide praised. The song was worldwide released on 5 April 2018 in Delta Goodrem's official YouTube channel.

Concerns and controversies
Team India violated the Games No-needle policy two times. Just two days before the opening of the Games, a cleaner found needles in a bottle in the Athletes' Village. The Games official found that the syringes belonged to an Indian doctor which he used to inject vitamin B12 to an Indian athlete and did not dispose them properly after using them and violated the Games no-needle policy. As a result, the Indian team officials received serious warnings from the Games officials. Later two Indian athletes were suspended from the Games as needles were found in their apartment which was also against the Games policy.

At least 13 athletes from four countries - Cameroon, Uganda, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone - absconded during or immediately after the Games. Some missed their competitions. A month after the games ended, officials estimated that 50 athletes had remained in Australia illegally, with another 200 staying in the country on visas. In October 2019, it was found from the official documents that the Department of Home Affairs had rejected the asylum claims of 217 out of 230 athletes. The official documents also found that 17 "unlawful non-citizens" who took part in the Commonwealth Games were still in Australia, 14 of which were from Ghana and Rwanda. A total of 13 remain unaccounted for, while four were in detention.

The organising committee of the Games decided to bring in the athletes before the start of the closing ceremony. This caused an uproar on social media as, contrary to public expectations, none of the athletes were shown entering the stadium during the ceremony. Broadcast rights holders Channel 7 complained on air about the decision and concluded that, "it hasn't really lived up to expectations". Many spectators and athletes left during the ceremony, resulting in a half-empty stadium for much of the event. Following this, the ABC claimed that Channel 7 was briefed on the closing ceremony schedule, a claim which Channel 7 later refuted.

Events
The city hosted the 17th Sport Accord World Sport and Business Summit from 5 to 10 May 2019 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on 9 December 2019 that the state of Queensland would make an official bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics featuring venues across Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Without rival cities, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the 2032 Olympics to Brisbane.