Commonwealth Games Firsts

Here is some trivia related to the Commonwealth Games. See more Commonwealth Games Trivia, a Commonwealth Games Quiz and Medal Tally Trivia.

The FIRST 'commonwealth games type' event was held in 1911 - the 'Festival of Empire' was held celebrate the coronation of King George V.
The FIRST official Commonwealth Games was held in Hamilton Canada in 1930 (called the British Empire Games).
The FIRST gold medal awarded was to Canadian triple jumper Gordon Smallacombe.
The FIRST time the Games were held in the southern hemisphere was in Sydney 1938.
The FIRST time metric units rather than imperial units were used in events was in 1970.
The FIRST time that HM Queen Elizabeth II attended in her capacity as Head of the Commonwealth was in 1970.
The FIRST time there was a games mascot was in 1978 in Edmonton - Keyano, a Swan Hills Grizzly Bear.
The FIRST country to boycott the Commonwealth Games was Nigeria in 1978 in protest over New Zealand's sporting contacts with South Africa.

Ghana entering the stadium at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane (image source: Qld State Archives)

The FIRST time an Asian country hosted the Games was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1998.
The FIRST time team sports were played at the Commonwealth Games was in 1998, when Cricket, Men's and Women's Hockey, Netball and Rugby 7's were added to the program.
The FIRST time the Queen’s Baton Relay was delivered to other nations of the Commonwealth, besides England and the host country, was in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
The FIRST time that athletes with disabilities were included as full members of their national teams was at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. Those Games became the first fully inclusive international multi-sport games, meaning that the results were included in the medal count.
The FIRST competitor to have competed in seven Commonwealth Games was Lawn bowler Willie Wood from Scotland from 1974 to 2002.
The FIRST time there was an equal number of events for men and women was in 2018. This marks the first time ever that a major multi-sport event will have equality in terms of events.
The FIRST Commonwealth Games held on the African continent was due to be in Durban 2022, but they later withdrew as host.

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