Ultimate guide to the Commonwealth Games: What time does the Opening Ceremony TV coverage start, which nations are competing and where did it get its name? All your questions answered as tournament kicks off in Birmingham TODAY
- More than 5,000 athletes from 72 Commonwealth nations are set to compete
- Prince Charles and Camilla will attend opening ceremony in place of the Queen
- Athletes will compete in 22 sports, with tickets still available for nearly all
Tens of thousands of spectators are set to watch the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham tonight.
More than 5,000 athletes from 72 Commonwealth nations are set to compete in 11 days of sporting events.
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, as well as the Earl and Countess of Wessex, will attend tonight’s proceedings at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.
Athletes will compete in 22 sports, with tickets still available for nearly all of them.
The Birmingham event marks the first time the Commonwealth Games have been held in Britain since 2002.
Below, MailOnline answers all your questions.
Tens of thousands of spectators are set to watch the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham tonight. Above: Comedian Lenny Henry hold’s the Queen’s Baton during the Baton Relay yesterday
What time and where is the opening ceremony?
The Opening Ceremony will take place at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham.
It will begin at 8pm this evening and is expected to last for three hours.
The Games are being held in Birmingham this year after being chosen as the host way back in 2017.
This is the third time England has hosted the event after London in 1934 and Manchester in 2002.
A total of 15 venues across the West Midlands have been selected to hold different sporting events, including the famous NEC Arena in Birmingham city centre and Coventry Stadium – home to the Wasps rugby team and Coventry City FC.
The Opening Ceremony will take place at the Alexander Stadium (pictured) in Birmingham. It will begin at 8pm this evening and is expected to last for three hours
How can I watch the opening ceremony and the games themselves?
The coverage of the opening ceremony will be on BBC One and will begin at 7pm. It is set to last until 10pm.
In total, the BBC will be showing more than 200 hours of live coverage of the games on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three.
There will also be up to 11 livestreams to watch online, on either BBC iPlayer or the BBC Sport website.
A highlights show – Tonight at the Games – will be shown on BBC One each night.
What Royals are expected to attend?
It was announced last week that the Queen will not attend the opening ceremony.
Instead, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla will be there in her place. Prince Charles will give a speech and deliver a message from his mother.
Her Majesty has taken a step back from attending some events in an official capacity over the last few months as she deals with ‘mobility issues’.
She is the patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Head of the Commonwealth.
Prince Charles and Camilla will be aided by The Earl and Countess of Wessex at the opening ceremony. Prince Edward is vice-patron of the CGF.
Other royals, including Prince William and his wife Kate and Princess Anne, will attend various events throughout the 12-day games.
On Friday, Anne will visit the Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village at Warwick University where she will meet athletes competing in the games.
She will then watch the Rugby Sevens at Coventry Stadium, where she will see the following matches: England vs Samoa; South Africa vs Malaysia; Scotland vs Tonga; and Canada vs Wales.
Other royals, including Prince William and his wife Kate and Princess Anne, will attend various events throughout the 12-day games
On Saturday, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will watch cycling at Lee Valley Velopark in London, being in attendance for the 4,000m Individual Support and presenting the winning athletes with their medals.
On Monday, August 1, the Earl and Countess of Wessex will return to Birmingham to watch events in the city between Monday and Wednesday.
On the Tuesday, the Duke and Duchess of Cambride and the Earl and Countess of Wessex will attend the games once again.
Prince Edward will also deliver a speech at the closing ceremony on August 8.
What countries are involved?
A total of 54 Commonwealth countries and 18 territories are sending athletes to compete.
In total, there are 6,500 athletes and officials.
The territories that are competing separately from the nations that they are dependencies of include Britain’s crown dependencies.
Among them are the British Virgin Islands, the Cook Islands and the Turks and Caicos.
The four Home Nations of the UK send their own separate teams, as they do in the Olympics.
The Maldives are competing after re-joining the Commonwealth in 2020.
Only six teams have attended very Commonwealth Games. They are England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.
A total of 54 Commonwealth countries and 18 territories are sending athletes to compete. Above: A display in front of Birmingham Library showing the badges of nations competing
People walk past Victoria Square decorated in preparation for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
How can I get tickets for the the Games?
Tickets for swimming, cycling and the triathlon and para triathlon have sold out and are now re-sale only.
However, tickets for all other sports are still available. There are still also tickets for tonight’s opening ceremony.
They can be bought at the official website https://tickets.birmingham2022.com.
What sports will feature?
A total of 19 sporting disciplines will take place throughout the Games, with varying numbers of events in each.
The full list is below:
- Aquatics – diving
- Aquatics – swimming and para swimming
- Athletics and para athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball 3×3
- Beach volleyball
- Boxing
- Cricket T20
- Cycling – mountain bike
- Cycling – road race
- Cycling – time trial
- Cycling – track and para track
- Gymnastics – artistic
- Gymnastics – rhythmic
- Hockey
- Judo
- Lawn bowls and para lawn bowls
- Netball
- Para powerlifting
- Rugby sevens
- Squash
- Table tennis and para table tennis
- Triathlon and para triathlon
- Wheelchair basketball 3×3
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
Where did the Commonwealth Games get its name?
The Commonwealth Games were originally called the British Empire Games.
They were held for the first time in Hamilton, Canada, in August 1930.
The second Empire Games were held in London in August 1934.
The name for the games remained the same until 1952, when they were renamed to The British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
The word empire was not dropped until 1970, when the British Commonwealth Games were held.
The word British was then dropped from the title from 1978 onwards.
The Commonwealth Games were originally called the British Empire Games. They were held for the first time in Hamilton, Canada, in August 1930. The second Empire Games were held in London in August 1934. Above: Female hurdlers at the 1934 Empire Games
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