Sporting fans now don't have long to wait until the highly-anticipated Commonwealth Games get underway in Birmingham.
On Thursday evening, the opening ceremony will take place at 7pm at the Alexander Stadium, the venue for the athletics. It will be hoped that home advantage can inspire British athletes, especially given that four years ago in the Gold Coast, it was hosts Australia who topped the medal table with 80 gold medals.
In many respects though, organisers have already struck gold. More than 1.2 million ticket sales mean the Games in Birmingham will be the best attended ever. The total beats Glasgow 2014 – where 1 million seats were sold – and down under four years ago which hit 1.02 million.
