commonwealth games.

[aprilanne]

hi i was just sitting here thinking that these commonwealth games are not much more than the home nation,s competing against each other and are giving the athletes the impression they are world class .i mean no america in athletics .no america /russia in gymnastics .sorry but i think its not been great .and i am scottish .and we should not be having a rebel song masking as a national anthem .great song at new year but not on when english competetor standing beside them .

my not very sporty daughter is enjoying watching the diving - the Games are great

I've enjoyed it and it's a great platform for up and coming competitors as well as established ones.

Claudia Fragapane, the England gold winning gymnast, was honest enough to say that in a fully inclusive competition she wouldn't be in the top three.

I Vow To Thee My Country is also about Britain - hardly any songs about England! I personally would object very strongly to it being used for the English anthem - I know it's very moving but it embodies the whole 'dulce et decoram est' spirit - i.e., what a great honour to die for your country, not what a hideous waste of young life.

I think England should just get someone to write an anthem like Ireland did for rugby. Ireland's Call is a great anthem - it's easy to sing to, upbeat and proudly Irish without being political or lording it over / fighting against any other nation.

So glad England didn't go with Land of Hope and Glory in the Commonwealth. The being about Britain rather than England is a minor thing (though annoying for non-English Brits), it's the sentiment that's the problem. 'Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set, god, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet'. I think most of the commonwealth is quite glad Britain stopped setting it's bounds wider! That is a song for an empire proudly taking over the world, not a 21st century country.

Yabu it is not the Olympics and never will be.

Granted there are some sports which have winners who would struggle to make the Olympics but in others the big players are there, for example cycling, swimming (with the exception of Phelps and Locke (sp)), long distance running, 800 metres to name a few off the top of my head.

It also allows athletes to experience a global multi-disciplinary competition, become visible (good for funding) which can be vital preparation for competing at the olympics, something Denise Lewis cited.

Finally these games can hopefully continue to build on the London 2012 legacy to inspire a nation.

BROKENHEARTED55A .yes it was stupid to say the least .

OP, this is why the Commonwealths are worth celebrating and worth keeping. These youngsters have been given the chance of a big meet, a couple of years prior to Rio, and it should stand them in good stead.

April and Broken...

RE I would walk: A tad insensitive maybe, but that song was the theme of the games, and played / sung at every event I went to. That includes the opening ceremony and seven other events during the two weeks. One could also argue that not including it at that particular event, when it had been played at every other was also wrong and insensitive because then it is making a point / making it different.

I agree that not all of the competitors have been world class. We went to lots of the gymnastics, and some of the countries in the qualifiers were awful. One girl had pretty much the same beam routine as my ten year old daughter. Needless to say she didn't get through!

However, other parts if it were world class. At the gymnastics they were saying to reach the finals at the Olympics or World Championships the male athletes would need a score of 15. At the rings (when they said this) all the medal winners had scores over 15. They'd be up there in the world championships too.

So no, it's not got everyone from the world, but that's good. It allows the athletes to try new stuff, to compete and try out new routines. Next year's world championships for gymnastics will be the qualifiers for the next Olympics, so countries cannot afford to get that wrong. The Commonwealth Games gives a great opportunity for athletes to compete new stuff / get back to fitness etc etc and that is valuable in its own right too.