What makes the Commonwealth Games different from the Olympics?

While our athletes score gold after gold, let us clear the cobwebs of confusion by delving into the difference between the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. Both take place once in four years but carry a very different history and criteria.

The Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games are international sports events. They consist of the multiple games played by the athletes of the participant nations.

The Commonwealth Games are held for the countries that had British colonization. For Olympics, all the countries are invited as participants

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Facts about the Commonwealth Games

• The Commonwealth Games is the third largest international multi-game event after the Olympic Games and Asian Games. The headquarter is located in London, England
• The first Commonwealth Games were held as 'first British Empire Games' in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada
• This game was at first proposed by Reverend Astley Cooper in 1891
• Cooper presented an article in 'The Times' newspaper suggesting a "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival every four years as a means of increasing the goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire"
• Total 11 countries sent around 400 athletes to take part in the games.
• 59 events of six sports were conducted during 1930 Commonwealth Games
• From 1930 to 1950 the Games were known as the British Empire Games
• The Commonwealth Games are conducted once in every four years except in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II
• From 1970 to 1974 they took on the title of British Commonwealth Games and it was in the year 1978 that the Games in Edmonton saw the event change its name to 'Commonwealth Games'
• The City of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada helped cover the travelling costs for the visiting athletes from other nations by providing USD 30,000
• A trophy in the form of a silver cup was presented to the winning country, which was Canada itself
• The duration of Commonwealth Games is around 10 days
• Lawn ball, Net ball, Squash, Tenpin bowling are the Commonwealth Game sports that are never played in the Olympics

Facts about Olympics Games

• The Olympic Games are headed by International Olympic Committee IOC which is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland
• The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece in 1896
• 206 countries are member countries in International Olympic Committee
• Olympics consists of two types of games, Winter Games and Summer Games
• These Winter and Summer Games are conducted alternatively as two parts of an Olympic Session. So, the duration between the Winter Games and the Summer Games is two years.
• Olympics is played for approximately 17 days.
• Only five sports like Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics and Swimming have been contested at every summer Olympic Games since 1896
• In 2012, there were 26 sports contested, whereas, in 2016, there was 28
• In 2020, around 33 sports are scheduled including other added sports like baseball and softball (which were removed in 2008), karate, roller sport, climbing, surfing, golf, rugby union

Participant countries during 2016 Rio Olympics: Photo source/Google Olympics

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