History
The Manchester Commonwealth Games was the second time the event has been staged in England, the other time being in London when the Empire Games was staged in 1934. The City of Manchester was granted the rights to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games at a meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation in 1995.
At that time the Games program consisted of 10 individual sports. However with the decision to expand the Games to include Team sports in the 1998 Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Manchester organised the largest Games ever.
Facts
Program: The 2002 Commonwealth Games will be the largest ever both in terms of sports on the program, and the number of participants. There are 19 sports overall with 16 individual sports and 3 team sports.
Numbers: Approx 5500 athletes, coaches, officials, medicos and other support staff attended the Games;
Events for the Disabled: For the first time events for Elite Athletes with a Disability were integrated into the program with medals won by EAD athletes counting towards the overall medal tally;
Budget: The 2002 event had the largest budget of any Games to date - more than $420m;
Underwriter: The Manchester City Council was responsible for underwriting the cost of the Games and received assistance from its funding partners, Sport England and UK Sport;
Venues: Games venues were centrally located with ten of the program sports to be held in venues constructed in the past 3 years;
New Sports: Two sports, Table Tennis and Triathlon, were held for the first time with the sports of Judo and Wrestling returning to the program.
The 2002 Australian Commonwealth Games Team
The Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA): The ACGA (with the assistance of Program Sports) is responsible for preparing, selecting, outfitting, transporting and entering the athletes and officials for the Commonwealth Games;
Preparation of 2002 Team: Program Sports have undertaken a program of preparation for athletes seeking selection to the Team;
ACGA Preparation Funding: For the first time the ACGA in 2002 allocated funding for preparation of the Commonwealth Games team with more than $2m funding being provided;
AIS/ACGA 2002 Manchester Scholarship Program: The ACGA and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) jointly funded 32 athletes in 8 sports (not having AIS programs) to prepare for the Games;
Largest Australian Commonwealth Games Team ever: The 2002 Team was the largest ever to represent Australian at the Commonwealth Games. 515 athletes and officials competed in 19 sports over 11 days;
Selection of the Team: Program Sports established selection criteria and nominated athletes and officials to the ACGA.
Pre-Games Training: On a sport by sport basis athletes undertook pre-games training and competition programs both in Australia and overseas - these included camps, high altitude training, pre-games tournaments, intensive training, etc;
Team Travel: Qantas, the Official 2002 Australian Team Air Carrier, carried the Team to the Games on a sport by sport basis. Qantas provided a charter flight for the return from Manchester;
Team Freight: Schenker Logistics provided the Team with expert support in moving freight to and from Manchester;
Team Uniforms: adidas provided the competition and delegation wear uniforms for the 2002 Team with Speedo outfitting the swimmers, divers, synchronised swimmers, and triathletes. The Team Formal Uniform was designed and supplied by Table Eight Corporate and was worn at various events including the Opening Ceremony on 25 July;
Team Athlete Services: Athlete services were provided for Team Members within and outside the village through an athlete lounge where athletes could watch the Channel 7 broadcast of the Games, telephone home through the assistance of Telstra, and connect with the internet through the computers and modems provided;
Team Sponsors and Supporters: The 2002 Team has been generously supported by a number of companies and organisations. These include:-
Mitsubishi, Qantas, Telstra, CUB, McDonalds, Samsung, Australia Post, Seven Network, Coles Supermarkets, Korjo, Speedo, adidas, Table Eight Corporate, Royal Australian Mint, Westpac, ABC Radio, Radio 2UE (includes 3AW, 4BC and 6PR);
Team Fundraising: ACGA State Divisions set a target to raise $2.7m to assist the Team to compete in Manchester. Through the efforts of local volunteer committees fundraising events were undertaken such as dinners, raffles, auctions, boxing nights, golf days and similar programs;
Government Assistance to the 2002 Team: State Governments provided financial assistance to assist the Team Appeal administered on a State by State basis.
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