Next Tuesday marks the 92nd anniversary of the inaugural edition of the Commonwealth Games – known at the time as the British Empire Games. The idea, dreamed up by a Canadian sportswriter, was simple enough. If the world had the Olympics, why shouldn’t the colonies of the British empire have their own multisport extravaganza?
Spurred on by apparent grievances between the Canadian team and their American counterparts at the 1928 Olympics, the Canadian journalist Bobby Robinson set about establishing the imperial games – first hosted by his home town Hamilton in 1930. A small Australian team competed in those inaugural Games, bringing home three golds, four silvers and one bronze medal. Women were only permitted to compete in aquatic events and the Australian team was male-only.
