The Commonwealth is a relic, but the Games are a decent sporting barometer 

The Commonwealth Games are an anachronism. They started in 1930 as the British Empire Games, back when England still mattered in geopolitics. Today, UK is small fry in international relations, but it hasn’t given up the pretensions of a great power. And the Games, comprising participants from former British colonies, help keep up that illusion. For, the Commonwealth itself is like the koala of international politics – cute, floppy, but practically useless. It has no real heft. All Commonwealth members today have their own foreign policy orientation. And UK itself has pretty much hitched its geopolitical wagon to US. 

Having said that, none of these factors impacts the athletes who participated in the just-concluded Glasgow Commonwealth Games. For them it was an opportunity to test their mettle at an international competition, which can be considered as preparation for the Asian Games – which takes place in Nagoya, Japan in Sept – and the Olympics. True, the overall level of competition at CWG isn’t the same as Asian Games and Olympics, with many of the major sporting nations such as US, China, South Korea, and Japan absent. But performance in certain disciplines can be a good barometer of improvement.    

India delivered a strong performance in boxing at the Glasgow games, picking up a record seven gold medals – the highest by any country in the sport at CWG. What made the achievement sweeter is the quality of the competing boxing contingents from other nations such as England, Canada, and Australia that Indian pugilists had to overcome. This puts our boxers, especially women pugilists like Sakshi Chaudhary, Preeti Pawar, and Jaismine Lamboria, in good stead for bigger international competitions. Finally, the next CWG will be held in 2030 in Ahmedabad. After the 2010 Delhi CWG, all eyes will be on Ahmedabad to see if it can further provide a fillip to Indian sports, and create a lasting foundation for athletes in the country. 

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