The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...

for the members of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

that was held in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 4352 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

to date. It was also the largest international

to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

. The

opening Opening may refer to: Types of openings * Hole * A title sequence or opening credits * Grand opening of a business or other institution * Inauguration * Keynote * Opening sentence * Opening sequence * Opening statement, a beginning statemen ...

and

closing Closing may refer to: Business and law * Closing (law), a closing argument, a summation * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction * Closing (sales), the process of making a sale * Closing a business, the proc ...

ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event. It was the first time that the Commonwealth Games were held in India and the second time they were held in Asia after

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, Malaysia in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. It was also the first time a

Commonwealth republic The republics in the Commonwealth of Nations are the sovereign states in the organisation with a republican form of government. , 36 out of the 56 member states were republics. While Charles III is the titular Head of the Commonwealth, the King ...

hosted the games, second in a country not presently headed by the

British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British con ...

since Malaysia in 1998. The official mascot of the Games was Shera and the official song of the Games, " Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto", was composed by

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

awardee Indian recording artist

A.R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

. Preparation for the Games received widespread international media attention, with criticism being levelled against the organisers for the slow pace of work, as well as issues related to security and hygiene. In spite of threats of boycotts and athlete withdrawals however, all member nations of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

participated in the event, with the exceptions of

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, which is suspended from the Commonwealth, and

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

, which didn't send a team. The internationally acclaimed

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

improved the image of the Games, and dispelled negative notions surrounding them, with many observers remarking that they began on an apprehensive note, but were an exceptional experience with a largely positive ending. The President of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator, former athlete, and physician, who served as the eighth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 201 ...

, said that India had made a good foundation for a future

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

bid, which was reiterated by the Australian Minister of Sports. Commonwealth games Federation chief Mike Fennell stated that "Delhi delivered a fantastic Games". Some observers accused sections of the media of bias, unfair expectations, and negative reporting. The final medal tally was led by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with 74 golds and 177 most medals overall. The host nation India achieved its best performance ever at the Commonwealth Games, finishing second overall by winning 38 golds and 101 total medals.

Host selection

Delhi was selected as the host city of the 2010 Commonwealth Games on 14 November 2003 during the

CGF CGF may refer to: * Carlingford railway station (station code), a defunct railway station in Sydney, Australia * Commonwealth Games Federation, an international sports organization * Consumer Goods Forum, a global organization of consumer goods com ...

General Assembly in

Montego Bay Montego Bay () is the capital of the Parishes of Jamaica, parish of Saint James Parish, Jamaica, St. James in Jamaica. The city is the fourth most populous urban area in the country, after Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Spanish Town, and Portmore ...

, Jamaica, defeating bid from

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, Canada. India's bid motto was ''New Frontiers and Friendships''.Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi: Pakistan played important role
(13 April 2010). Retrieved 23 April 2010. India shifted the balance in its favour in the second round of voting with a promise that it would provide US$100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding, lodging and transport. The successful

2003 Afro-Asian Games The 2003 Afro-Asian Games, officially known as the First Afro-Asian Games or I Afro-Asian Games and unofficially known as the Inaugural Afro-Asian Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Hyderabad, India, from 24 October (ex ...

held in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

was also seen as having shown that India has the resources, infrastructure and technical know-how to stage a big sporting event. Meanwhile, Hamilton struggled with the notion a country would not be awarded two major multi-sport events in the same year, after

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

was awarded the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

earlier in the year. Delhi bid for the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

but lost to

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

respectively. The Hamilton bid was Canada's attempt to hold the games for the fifth time.

Development and preparation

Organising committee

Delhi 2010 commonwealth games organizing committee head office

The organisation of 2010 Commonwealth Games was beset by delays: in January 2010, the Indian Olympic Association vice-chairman Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming and organising its games committee and, following a 2009

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

report showing two-thirds of venues were behind schedule,

Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), currently known as Commonwealth Sport, is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the governing body ...

president Mike Fennell stated that the slow progress of preparations represented a serious risk to the event. Singh also called for a revamp of the games' organising committees: Jarnail Singh, a former Secretary of the Government of India, was appointed as the chief executive officer and

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...

president

Suresh Kalmadi Suresh Kalmadi (born 1 May 1944) is an Indian politician and senior sports administrator. He is a former member of the Indian National Congress. He was a member of parliament from Pune until May 2014. He is alleged to have been involved in cor ...

was appointed as head of the committee. In spite of delays and the corruption cases levied on the organisers, commentators stated that they were confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time. At the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay in October 2009, the Business Club of India (BCI) was formed through the partnership of the organising committee, the

Confederation of Indian Industry The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a Non-governmental organization, non-governmental business and industry organisation and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895. CII is a membership-based organisation. ...

and the

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. The BCI was formed to both market the Games and promote Indian business interests internationally.

Venues

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium CWG opening ceremony

Events took place at 12 competition venues. A total of 20 training venues were used in the Games. Of these 20, one was used for archery; three for aquatics; two for lawn bowls; two for netball; eight for rugby sevens, including seven venues within

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

; two for shooting; one for squash; two for table tennis; one for weightlifting, three for wrestling and two for tennis. A total of five venues were newly constructed for the event; the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, the

Siri Fort Sports Complex The DDA Siri Fort Sport Complex is a sports stadium in New Delhi, India. It was built for the 1982 Asian Games, next to the Asian Games village by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which also runs the facility now. Also close by is the ...

, the

Thyagaraj Sports Complex The Thyagaraj Sport Complex is a sports stadium in New Delhi, India. It is owned by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and was built at the cost of . It was designed by leading architects PTM of Australia and Kapoor & Ass ...

, the

Yamuna Sports Complex The Yamuna Sports Complex is a sports complex located in Surajmal Vihar, New Delhi, India. Inaugurated in 1999, it has wide spectrum of sporting facilities. It is owned by the Delhi Development Authority. It was one of the multiple venues for th ...

as well as a

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

facility in Delhi University Stadium. This does not include the two venues—the

Indira Gandhi Sports Complex The Indira Gandhi Arena (officially Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium), formerly known as the Indraprashtha Stadium, is located at the Indraprastha Estate in the eastern part of New Delhi. It is the largest indoor sports arena in India and among t ...

and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium—that received major renovations or an uplift. All other venues had existed prior to the event. The largest venue was the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, with a capacity of 60,000, was the main venue of the event, hosting both the opening and the closing ceremonies. On the other hand, the

Central Reserve Police Force The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The CRPF assists states and Union Territories in maintaining law and order and internal security. It is composed of the Cent ...

(CRPF) Shooting Range located in Kadarpur had the smallest seating capacity, at 345. There were three main non-competition venues in the event, besides the Commonwealth Games Village; namely the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Headquarters, the Main Media Centre, and the Games Family Hotel, Hotel Ashok.

Commonwealth Games Village

The Commonwealth Games Village provided accommodation and training for athletes of the Games, and was opened from 23 September to 18 October 2010. It is located along the east bank of the River Yamuna, in proximity to competition and training venues as well as city landmarks, and is spread over an area of . Comprising five main zones—the Residential Zone, the International Zone, the Training Area, the Main Dining and the Operational Zone—the Games Village, which was a non-smoking zone, was universally accessible particularly to accommodate

para-sport Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing non-disabled sports, while others have been specifically created f ...

athletes. Free accommodation for all athletes at the Games Village, as well as free transport and other benefits, such as a free trip to the famed

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

and a reserved lane for participants on selected highways were provided. The Games Village accommodated over 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games.

Budget

The initial total budget estimated by the

in 2003 for hosting the Games was . In 2010, however, the official total budget soon escalated to an estimated , a figure which excluded non-sports-related infrastructure development. Business Today magazine estimated that the Games cost . The 2010 Commonwealth Games was reportedly the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.

Transport

A four-lane flyway, stretch from

Lodi Road Lodi Road () in New Delhi, India, is named after the Lodi Gardens located on it. Two Mughal mausoleums, Humayun's Tomb and Safdarjung's Tomb, lie at the eastern and western ends of the road respectively. A number of cultural, educational, and ...

to trans-Yamuna, linking the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was constructed which reduced the travelling time between the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and the Stadium to six minutes. In response to concerns over the large number of trains that pass by the Delhi metropolitan region daily, construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines have been completed. To expand road infrastructure, flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges were built to improve links for the Games and city in general. Road-widening projects were finished with an emphasis being placed on expanding national highways. To improve traffic flow on existing roads, plans were made to make both the inner and outer Ring roads signal free. To support its commitment to mass transport, nine corridors have been identified and were constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems (for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to

Red Fort The Red Fort, also known as Lal Qila () is a historic Mughal Empire, Mughal fort in Delhi, India, that served as the primary residence of the Mughal emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1639, fo ...

). Six of these corridors were expected to be operational in 2010. Additionally, The

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system that serves Delhi and the adjoining satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida, Bahadurgarh, and Ballabhgarh in the National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region of India. The system cons ...

was expanded to accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport during the event. The metro has extended to

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

and the

Noida Noida (), short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (ISO: ), is a city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. As per provisional reports of Census of India, the population of Noida in 2011 was ...

area. For this large increase in the size of the network, Delhi Metro had deployed 14

tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole" or a "worm", is a machine used to excavate tunnels. TBMs are an alternative to drilling and blasting methods and "hand mining", allowing more rapid excavation through hard rock, wet or dry so ...

Radio Frequency Identification Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically Automatic identification system, identify and Tracking system, track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, ...

(RFID) was used to tag vehicles in venue parking lots to help organise mass parking and increase security.

Indira Gandhi International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport serving New Delhi, the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR). The airport, spread over an area of ,

was modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly $1.95 billion, Terminal 3 has increased airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a year by 2010. A new runway has been constructed, allowing for more than 75 flights an hour. At more than 4400 metres long, it is one of Asia's longest. The airport has been connected to the city via a six-lane expressway ( Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway) and the $580 million

Delhi Airport Metro Express The Airport Express Line or Orange Line is a Delhi Metro line from New Delhi to Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector - 25, linking Indira Gandhi International Airport. The total length of the line is , of which is underground and , from Buddha Jayanti P ...

line.

Green Games

The organisers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme to show the intention to host a "sustainable games" and to take the environment into consideration when constructing and renovating venues.

Thyagaraj Stadium The Thyagaraj Sport Complex is a sports stadium in New Delhi, India. It is owned by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and was built at the cost of . It was designed by leading architects PTM of Australia and Kapoor & Ass ...

is intended to be a key example of environmentally considered construction. In opposition to this intention, a number of environmental controversies arose and the adverse ecological impact of various aspects of the games have been protested by city residents. City residents filed a public interest petition to the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

against the felling of 'heritage' trees in the

Siri Fort Siri Fort, in the city of New Delhi, was built during the rule of Alauddin Khalji, second ruler of Khalji Dynasty, of Delhi Sultanate to defend the city from the onslaught of the Mongols. It was the second of the seven cities of medieval Delhi bu ...

area to make way for Games facilities. The court appointed architect

Charles Correa Charles Mark Correa (1 September 1930 – 16 June 2015) was an Indian architect and urban planner based in Mumbai, India. Credited with the creation of modern architecture in post-Independent India, he was celebrated for his sensitivity to the ...

to assess the impact and he severely criticised the designs on ecological grounds. In spite of this, in April 2009 the Supreme Court allowed the construction on the grounds that "much time had been lost" and "the damage already caused to the environment could not be undone". The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

, has also been the subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms. After a prolonged legal battle between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for the games).

Queen's baton relay

The

Queen's Baton Relay The King's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth, currently King Charles III. The relay traditionally begins at Buckingham P ...

began when the baton, which contains

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

's message to the athletes, left

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

on 29 October 2009. The baton arrived at the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 54 nations of the Commonwealth and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games. The baton arrived in India on 25 June 2010 through the Wagah Border crossing from Pakistan. The baton was designed by Michael Foley of Foley Designs and a graduate of the

National Institute of Design The National Institutes of Design (NID) are a group of autonomous public design institutes in India, with the first institute established in 1961 in Ahmedabad. The other NIDs are located in the cities of Kurukshetra, Amaravati, Jorhat and Bho ...

. It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a

helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...

shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all the regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf—representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is high, wide at the base, and wide at the top and weighs . The Queen's baton has a number of technological features including: * The ability to capture images and sound *

Global positioning system The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...

(GPS) technology so the baton's location can be tracked * Embedded

light emitting diodes A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of pho ...

(LEDs) which changed into the colours of that country's flag whilst in that country * A text messaging capability so that people can send messages of congratulations and encouragement to the baton bearers throughout the relay

Other preparation

In preparation for an influx of English-speaking tourists for the Games, the Delhi government implemented a program to teach English, and the necessary skills for serving tourists, to key workers—such as cab drivers, security workers, waiters, porters, and service staff. In the two years prior to the Games 2000 drivers were taught English. In addition to Delhi, the Indian Government plans to expand the program to teach people in local tourist destinations in other parts of India. HOHO DELHI

To facilitate hassle-free sightseeing in Delhi,

Delhi Tourism Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) is an undertaking of the Government of Delhi, India, that was established in December 1975 for the purpose of promoting tourism and related services in the city of Delhi. It ha ...

undertook the launch of India's very first Hop on Hop Off bus known a
HOHO DELHI
modelled on popular concept of transport facilities in Western countries. The bus, which is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies like digital video screens and GPS systems, also had trained guides who were responsible for giving information about the sites. To prepare for the energy-usage spike during the games and to end chronic

power cuts A power outage, also called a blackout, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, a power cut, or a power out is the complete loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an el ...

, the government undertook a large power-production initiative to increase power production to 7000 MW (from the previous 4500 MW). To achieve this the government streamlined the power distribution process, directed additional energy to Delhi, and constructed new power plants. Indian states trained state police forces to handle tourist-related issues and deploy them prior to the Games. A large-scale construction and "beautification" project has resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and the displacement of city dwellers—at least 100,000 of New Delhi's 160,000 homeless people have removed from shelters, some of which have been demolished. Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of the slums, a practice which human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral. The

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...

implemented a series of "mobile courts" to be dispatched throughout Delhi to relocate migrant beggars from Delhi streets. The mobile courts would consider each beggar on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the beggar should be sent back to his/her state of residence, or be permitted to remain in government-shelters.

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event, in New Delhi, India. It began at 19:00 (

IST #REDIRECT Ist {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

) on 3 October. The opening ceremony was directed by Ganapathy Bharat, known commonly as

Bharat Bala Bharath Bala is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Career Bharat Bala produced the acclaimed album ''Vande Mataram (album), Vande Mataram'' and the ''Jana Gana Mana Video.'' He heads BharatBal ...

, an acclaimed Tamil film director, screenwriter and film producer based in Kodambakkam,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. The ceremony featured over 8,000 performers, and lasted for two-and-a-half hours. It is estimated that 3.50 billion (US$77 million) were spent to produce the ceremony. Commonwealth games Delhi 2010 opening ceremony swagatham mehndi

Commonwealth games Delhi 2010 opening ceremony swagatham mehndi

The ceremony was divided into six separate segments, each showcasing the rich, ancient and diverse cultures of India, including art, traditions, dances, music and colours. It began with a showcase of a variety of drummers from all parts of India, accompanied by seven-year-old

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

player Keshav. The countdown took place on a screen in the stadium, and was accompanied by fireworks. The centerpiece of the ceremony was the helium

aerostat An aerostat (, via French) or lighter-than-air aircraft is an aircraft that relies on buoyancy to maintain flight. Aerostats include unpowered balloons (free-flying or tethered) and powered airships. The relative density of an aerostat as a ...

, which acted as a giant 360° screen for spectators. The ceremony showcased a fusion of various classical dances from all parts of India, mehendi decorations, sand paintings and

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

. The title song was performed by

A R Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema ...

. Singer Hariharan sang the welcome song for the Games, titled "Swagatam", with thousands of school children. The Prince of Wales (now

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

; representing

Head of the Commonwealth The Head of the Commonwealth is the ceremonial leader who symbolises "the free association of independent member nations" of the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation that currently comprises 56 sovereign states. There is ...

) and

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

Pratibha Patil Pratibha Devisingh Patil (born 19 December 1934), also known as Pratibha Patil Shekhawat, is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2007 to 2012. She was the first woman to become the president of India. A m ...

officially declared the Games open. Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

of the host nation, India, attended the opening ceremony as well. A total of three

heads of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

from outside India attended the opening ceremony; two from

Commonwealth nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

and one from a non-Commonwealth nation. The three head of states were

Mohamed Nasheed Mohamed Nasheed (; born 17 May 1967), also known as Anni (), is a Maldivians, Maldivian politician and activist who served as president of the Maldives from 2008 until his resignation in 2012. A founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Part ...

President of the Maldives The president of the Republic of Maldives () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Maldives and the commander-in-chief of the Maldives National Defence Force. The current president is Mohamed Muizzu, who was elect ...

Marcus Stephen Marcus Ajemada Stephen (born 1 October 1969) is a Nauruan politician and former sportsperson who previously was a member of the Cabinet of Nauru, and who served as President of Nauru from December 2007 to November 2011. The son of Nauruan par ...

President of Nauru The president of Nauru is elected by Parliament of Nauru, Parliament from among its members, and is both the head of state and the head of government of Nauru. Nauru's unicameral Parliament has 19 members, with an electoral term of three years. ...

and a multiple Commonwealth gold medallist, and

Albert II, Prince of Monaco Albert II (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, reigning since 2005. Born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Albert is the second child and only son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. He attend ...

, representing the

. As well,

Sir Anand Satyanand Sir Anand Satyanand (born 22 July 1944) is a New Zealand lawyer, judge, and ombudsman who served as the 19th governor-general of New Zealand from 2006 to 2011. Satyanand was chair of the Commonwealth Foundation for two 2-year terms, ending in ...

, the

Governor General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the advi ...

, attended the ceremony.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony featuring both Indian and Scottish performers. The closing ceremony was not as well received as the opening ceremony. The Commonwealth Games flag was handed over to representatives of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, which hosted the

XX Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

in 2014. At the closing ceremony, the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation declared that Delhi had hosted a "truly exceptional Games". A day after the ceremony, Scotland's First Minister

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

stated that

The Games

Participating Commonwealth Games Associations

There were 71 participating nations at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As

was suspended from the

, it was banned from participating in the Games. Rwanda fielded a team for the games for the first time after becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009. The numbers of athletes from each country is shown in brackets.

Sports

There were events in 21 disciplines across 17 sports for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. *

Aquatics Aquatics may refer to: *Aquatic sports in the Olympics and other international competitions, including the disciplines of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming *Water-related sports more broadly (including boa ...

() **

Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

Synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...

* * * * * Cycling () **

Road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

** Track * Gymnastics () **

Artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

Rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

* * * * * * * * * *

Kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

was a demonstration sport at the Games.

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

was excluded from the games as there was no suitable location for the swimming stage. The organisers have also removed basketball, but included

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

, tennis and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, although in strong demand, did not make a comeback as the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

were not keen on a

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

tournament, and the organisers did not want a one day tournament.

Calendar

{, class=wikitable style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:90%; line-height:1.25em;width:75%;" , - !style="width:18%;" colspan=2, October !style="width:4%;", 3
Sun !style="width:4%;", 4
Mon !style="width:4%;", 5
Tue !style="width:4%;", 6
Wed !style="width:4%;", 7
Thu !style="width:4%;", 8
Fri !style="width:4%;", 9
Sat !style="width:4%;", 10
Sun !style="width:4%;", 11
Mon !style="width:4%;", 12
Tue !style="width:4%;", 13
Wed !style="width:4%;", 14
Thu !style="width:6%;", Events , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Ceremonies, , style="background-color:#00cc33;text-align:center;" , OC , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , style="background-color:#ee3333;text-align:center;" , CC, , , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Archery_pictogram

Archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

, , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#fc0;", , style="background:#fc0;", , style="background:#fc0;", , style="background:#fc0;", , , , , , 8 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Athletics_pictogram

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, , , , style="background:#fc0;", , style="background:#fc0;", , style="background:#fc0;", , style="background:#fc0;", , style="background:#fc0;", 8 , style="background:#fc0;", 7 , style="background:#fc0;", 9 , , style="background:#fc0;", , style="text-align:center;", 52 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Badminton_pictogram

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

, , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 5 , style="text-align:center;", 6 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Boxing_pictogram

Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, , , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 10 , , style="text-align:center;", 10 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

, , style="text-align:left;, Road cycling , , , , , , , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , , style="text-align:center;", 4 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;, Track cycling , , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 3 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 3 , , , , , , , style="text-align:center;", 14 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Diving_pictogram

, , , , , , , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 3 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 3 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , , style="text-align:center;", 10 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2,

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, , style="text-align:left;, Artistic , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 5 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 5 , , , , , , , style="text-align:center;", 14 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;, Rhythmic , , , , , , , , , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="text-align:center;", 6 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2,

Hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

, , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="text-align:center;", 2 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Lawn bowls_pictogram

Lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

, , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , , style="text-align:center;", 6 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Netball_pictogram

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

, , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , style="text-align:center;", 1 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Rugby sevens pictogram

Rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

, , , , , , , , , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 1 , , , style="text-align:center;", 1 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Shooting pictogram

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

, , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 5 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 3 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 4 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 6 , , style="text-align:center;", 36 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Squash pictogram

Squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

, , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 2 , , , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#39f; text-align:center;", ● , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 3 , , style="text-align:center;", 5 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Swimming_pictogram

, , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 5 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 5 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 9 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 5 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 11 , style="background:#fc0; text-align:center;", 9 , , , , , , style="text-align:center;", 44 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Synchronized_swimming_pictogram

, , , , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , , , , , , , , 2 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Table tennis_pictogram

Table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

, , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#fc0;, 1 , style="background:#fc0;, 1 , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#fc0;, 1 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 3 , 8 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Tennis_pictogram

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#39f;", ● , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 3 , , , , , 5 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Weightlifting_pictogram

Weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , style="background:#fc0;, 1 , style="background:#fc0;, 2 , , , 17 , - style="text-align:center;" , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2, Wrestling_pictogram

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, , , style="background:#fc0;, 3 , style="background:#fc0;, 4 , style="background:#fc0;, 4 , style="background:#fc0;, 3 , style="background:#fc0;, 3 , style="background:#fc0;, 4 , , , , , 21 , - ! colspan=2, Daily medal events ! ! 8 ! 18 ! 27 ! 35 ! 43 ! 32 ! 29 ! 14 ! 21 ! 29 ! 16 !rowspan=2, 272 , - ! colspan=2, Cumulative total ! ! 8 ! 26 ! 53 ! 88 ! 131 ! 163 ! 192 ! 206 ! 227 ! 256 ! 272 , - !style="width:18%;" colspan=2, October !style="width:4%;", 3
Sun !style="width:4%;", 4
Mon !style="width:4%;", 5
Tue !style="width:4%;", 6
Wed !style="width:4%;", 7
Thu !style="width:4%;", 8
Fri !style="width:4%;", 9
Sat !style="width:4%;", 10
Sun !style="width:4%;", 11
Mon !style="width:4%;", 12
Tue !style="width:4%;", 13
Wed !style="width:4%;", 14
Thu !style="width:6%;", Events

Medal table

2010 CWG 10 metre air pistol pairs women

Only the top ten nations by medal rank are shown in this medal table. Nations are ranked first by count of gold medals, then silver medals, then bronze medals.

Podium sweeps

{, class="wikitable sortable" , + !Date !Sport !Event !Team !Gold !Silver !Bronze , - , 6 October ,

Women's 200 metre breaststroke A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

, ,

Leisel Jones Leisel Marie Jones, OAM (born 30 August 1985) is an Australian former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medallist. A participant in the 2000 Summer Olympics – at just 15 years old – and 2004 Summer Olympics, she was part of gold-medal- ...

, Tessa Wallace ,

Sarah Katsoulis Sarah Jane Katsoulis (born 10 May 1984 in Milton, New South Wales, Milton) is an Australian swimmer. She won a bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. References

1984 births Living people Australian femal ...

, - , 6 October ,

, Women's artistic individual all-around , ,

Lauren Mitchell Lauren Stephanie Mitchell (born 23 July 1991) is an Australian former artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2010 World champion on the Floor (gymnastics), floor exercise and the 2009 W ...

Emily Little Emily Little (born 29 March 1994) is an Australian artistic gymnast. She won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the team women's artistic gymnastic events. She was chosen to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Personal ...

Georgia Bonora Georgia Bonora is an Australian former gymnast who represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics, which took place in Beijing, China, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Personal Born in Melbourne on 19 May 1990, Bonora had problems wi ...

, - , 8 October ,

, Men's singles , ,

Nick Matthew Nicholas Matthew (born 25 July 1980 in Sheffield) is a former English professional squash player who has won the two most prestigious tournaments in the professional game, the British Open and the World Open, three times each. He reached a ...

James Willstrop James Willstrop (born 15 August 1983) is an English professional squash player from Yorkshire who represented the England men's national squash team and is a former world number 1. Career Willstrop has a large build for a squash player, ...

, Peter Barker , - , 8 October ,

, Men's 110 metres hurdles , , Andy Turner ,

William Sharman William "Will" Sharman (born 12 September 1984) is a British athlete who specialises in the 110 metres hurdles. He started his career as a junior high jumper and decathlete, but focused entirely on hurdling after a shoulder injury. He made his ...

, Lawrence Clarke , - , 9 October ,

, Women's 3000 metres steeplechase , ,

Milcah Chemos Cheywa Milcah Chemos Cheywa (born 24 February 1986 in Bugaa, Mount Elgon District) is a runner from Kenya who specialises in 3000 metres steeplechase. She was, until 2015, African record holder at the distance and is the gold medalist of the 2013 Wo ...

, Mercy Wanjiru Njoroge , Gladys Jerotich Kipkemoi , - , 10 October ,

, Men's 800 metres , ,

Boaz Lalang Boaz Kiplagat Lalang (born 8 February 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, who specialises in the 800 metres. His younger brother, Lawi Lalang, ran for the University of Arizona. Career At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Lalang barely missed ...

, Richard Kiplagat , Abraham Kiplagat , - , 11 October ,

, Men's 3000 metres steeplechase , , Richard Mateelong , Ezekiel Cheboi ,

Brimin Kipruto Brimin Kipruto (born 31 July 1985) is a Kenyan professional middle-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He was born in Korkitony, Keiyo District. He holds a personal best of 7:53.64 minutes which is the ...

, - , 11 October ,

, Women's discus throw , ,

Krishna Poonia Krishna Poonia (born 24 April 1977) is an international gold-medalist Indian discus thrower, track-and-field athlete, 2 times Olympics participant, Padma Shri and Arjuna Award recipient, politician from the Congress party and the former MLA ...

Harwant Kaur Harwant Kaur (born 5 July 1980) is an Indian discus thrower and shot putter. She won the silver medal at the 2002 Asian Championships, finished fourth at the 2003 Asian Championships and seventh at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In addition she ...

Seema Antil Seema Punia-Antil (born 27 July 1983) is an Indian discus thrower.Her personal best throw is 64.84 m,achieved in Kyiv in 2004. Early life Seema Antil was born in Khewda village of Sonipat district in Haryana. Her sporting career began at the ag ...

, - , 12 October ,

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Esther Oyema Esther Oyema (born 20 April 1982) is a Nigerian powerlifter. Oyema competed in the women's 61 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a gold medal and set a new world record by lifting 122.4 kg in the heavyweight category. I ...

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Anthony Ulonnam Anthony Ulonnam is a Nigerian Paralympic powerlifter. He Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Paralympics held in London, United Kingdom and he won the silver medal in the Powerlifting at the 2012 Summer ...

Ikechukwu Obichukwu Ikechukwu Obichukwu is a Nigerian Paralympic powerlifter. He represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Paralympics held in London, United Kingdom and he won the silver medal in the men's 52 kg event. He also competed at the Commonwealth Games in ...

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Yu Mengyu Yu Mengyu (; born 18 August 1989) is a retired Singaporean table tennis player. Born in Liaoning, China, Yu left China in 2006 at the age of 17 to join the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme. In th ...

Wang Yuegu Wang Yuegu (, ; born 10 June 1980) is a retired Chinese-born Singaporean table tennis player who was ranked among the top ten players in the world. Wang made her inaugural appearance as a Singaporean table tennis player on the International Ta ...

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Broadcasting

The host broadcast activities were provided by SIS Live, the production house, in partnership with

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, the host broadcaster, which includes

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, the rights were first won by

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broadcaster, they still promised that the coverage would be broadcast

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Marketing

Motto

The official motto for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was "Come out and play". It was chosen to represent the invitation of the athletes from the Commonwealth member countries to participate in the games and achieve success as well as the call of the Indian people to support their country's hosting of the games.

Logo

The logo of the 2010 Commonwealth Games is an image of Chakra, India's national symbol of freedom, unity, power and progress. The silhouette of the figures spiralling upwards from the Chakra, represents the growth of India into a vibrant nation and the games motto, Come out and play. The logo consists of six colours which are green, red, yellow, blue, purple and pink. Green represents life, energy, high spirits, the 2010 games as a green games and determination in overcoming challenges, purple represents reassurance, mystery and excitement, red represents unity, yellow represents destiny, blue represents equality while pink represents luxury and surprise.

Mascot

The official mascot for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was ''Shera'', an

anthropomorphised Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

tiger. His name comes from "Sher", a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

word meaning tiger (Hindi "Bagh" means tiger, however, Sher can be colloquially used for both lion and tiger). Shera is described as being the older brother of Jigrr, the mascot of the

2008 Commonwealth Youth Games The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games (Hindi language, Hindi: 2008 कॉमनवेल्थ यूथ गेम्स), officially known as the III Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Pune 2008, a regional sporting event that was hel ...

. The logo and the look for the games were designed by Idiom Design and Consulting. There is one song for Shera also composed by the popular composer of India the song contains initiative "Shera Shera"

Official song

The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games " Jiyo Utho Badho Jeeto" was composed and performed by the Indian musician

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

. The song's title is based on the slogan of the games, "Come out and play". The song was written by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words. It was released on 28 August 2010. The music video, directed by Bharath Bala was released on 23 September and featured a shorter version of the song. A. R. Rahman also gave a live concert for the theme song in Gurgaon, Haryana, which was previewed on various news channels. The official video of the song has been released on YouTube. However this song was not much appreciated by the people as it was being compared with

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

South Africa's official song

Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" is a song by Colombian singer Shakira, featuring the South African band Freshlyground. Co-written by Shakira and John Hill (record producer), John Hill, it was released on 7 May 2010 by Epic Records as the Li ...

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

Concerns and controversies

Several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these included excessive budget overruns, likelihood of floods in Delhi due to heavy

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

rains, infrastructural compromise, poor living conditions at the Games Village, delays in construction of the main Games' venues, the withdrawal of prominent athletes, widespread corruption by officials of the Games' Organising Committee and the possibility of a terrorist attack. The negative pre-event publicity and heavy security presence played a part in low spectator attendance during the initial events. However the numbers picked up as the Games progressed.

Formation of investigation committee

The day after the conclusion of the Games, the Indian Government announced the formation of a special committee to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement against the Organising Committee. The probe committee will be led by former

Comptroller and Auditor General of India The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (ISO: ''Bhārata kē Niyaṁtraka ēvaṁ Mahālēkhāparīkṣaka'') is the supreme audit institution of India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. They are empowered to au ...

VK Shunglu. This probe will be in addition to the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...

, and

Central Vigilance Commission Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC. It has the status of an autonomous body, free ...

investigations already underway. The

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Dr Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

had promised in mid-August, when reports of the bungling first surfaced, that corrupt officials will be given "severe and exemplary" punishment after the Games. The probe committee is tasked with looking into "all aspects of organising and conducting" the Games, and "to draw lessons from it." It was given three months to submit its report, but the report was never publicly released. The Indian Sports Ministry directed the Organising Committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to not release any staffer from their positions until the probe committee's work is finished.

Legacy

One of the aims of hosting the Commonwealth Games was to build world-class athletics infrastructure within the country, expose audiences to top-level non-cricket competition and encourage the youth to "Come out and play" (the official theme of the games). Building a sporting culture that looks beyond cricket is seen as an important task for a country which won its first ever individual Olympic gold medal in

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, despite having the world's second-largest population.

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...

, former Olympic gold medalist and chairman of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Organising Committee, was at the stadium during the 4 × 400 metre women's relay and described the audience's cheers for the racers as "potentially the moment that could change the course of athletics in Asia, the moment that could inspire thousands of people who'd never even seen an athletics track before to get involved... To build a truly global capacity in sport, you have to take it round the world – out of your own backyard. That means taking risks and facing challenges, but it has to be done."

References

External links

"Delhi 2010"
''Commonwealthsport.com''. Commonwealth Sport.
"Results and Medalists—2010 Commonwealth Games"
''Thecgf.com''. Commonwealth Games Federation.
"Post Games Report—2010 Commonwealth Games"
''Thecgf.com''. Commonwealth Games Federation.
"Official Website"
. ''D2010.thecgf.com''. Delhi 2010 {{Portal bar, Sports, India

Commonwealth Games by year

Commonwealth Games 2010 The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, ...

2010s in Delhi Multi-sport events in India October 2010 sports events in India Commonwealth Games in India

Host selection

Development and preparation

Organising committee

Venues

Commonwealth Games Village

Budget

Transport

Green Games

Queen's baton relay

Other preparation

Opening ceremony

Closing ceremony

The Games

Participating Commonwealth Games Associations

Sports

Calendar

Medal table

Podium sweeps

Broadcasting

Marketing

Motto

Logo

Mascot

Sponsors

Official song

Concerns and controversies

Formation of investigation committee

Legacy

See also

References

External links